Latvia's Food and Veterinary Service (FVS) conducted inspections on over 390 fresh produce retailers within a month, revealing violations in 40% of cases. Most infractions involved misleading consumers about the origin and quality of the products.
The inspections focused on accompanying documents, labelling, origin information, and other consumer information as well as product quality and storage conditions.
In 15% of cases, consumers were not provided with accurate origin information or received none at all. In 10%, the country of origin differed from what was stated in the documents, while in 8%, the country of origin was entirely missing from the documents.
Additionally, 15% of cases involved trading spoiled or substandard fruits and vegetables. Incorrect labelling was found in 4% of cases, and hygiene violations in 3%.
Violations regarding country of origin were most prevalent in grocery stores, occurring less frequently in markets and street markets.
source: rus.delfi.lv