EFET bites back over bad meat
The country’s food safety watchdog clashed with one of Greece’s largest processed meat manufacturers yesterday, after inspectors foiled the company’s claim that almost nine tons of rotten meat they had seized at its Thessaloniki factory was going to be destroyed. Officials from the Hellenic Food Authority (EFET) revealed at the beginning of the month that they confiscated and destroyed 8.7 tons of meat that was unfit for human consumption from the PG Nikas factory in Thessaloniki. Nikas, which is one of Greece’s top listed firms, has since run advertisements claiming this meat was actually post-processing residue destined to be destroyed. But EFET countered yesterday by claiming that from 2003 until April this year, Nikas had only destroyed a total of some 3.6 tons of meat – far lower than what EFET considered normal. EFET said the company’s claim that it would get rid of the unfit meat was «unfounded» and gave the impression the meat would be reused. Nikas could face a large fine over the meat’s seizure.
