Romania is a tenth-hand market that gets expired products from abroad, said the Agriculture Minister Achim Irimescu.

“In Romania there are situations where the salami is washed with vinegar and put for sale,” he added, reports local Ziarul Financiar.

“The state doesn’t do its duty, nor does the Consumers’ Protection office. Others control what they get from Romania, so why shouldn’t we control the products we get from others too?”

Irimescu has been Agriculture Minister since November 2015. Before that, he was the head of the agriculture department within the Permanent Representation of Romania to the European Union.

He was State Secretary within the Agriculture Ministry between 2012 and 2014. Between 1990 and 1998, Irimescu was advisor to the Minister of Agriculture.

His statements come as Romania has had several scandals related to food quality in the past weeks. A former store manager of the retailer Profi has recently accused the company of selling expired meat after washing it with detergent and vinegar. The company has rejected the accusations, claiming that the former store manager was angry for having been dismissed due to misconduct.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Madr.ro)