Surprise in Easter egg: chocolate and expired ingredients seized in Catania

Last Updated: March 29, 2024

Sorpresa nell'uovo di Pasqua, cioccolato e ingredienti scaduti: maxi sequestro a Catania

The controls, carried out in agreement with the Ministry of Health, also allowed to identify doves and chocolate eggs produced industrially which, once discarded and repackaged, were sold as artisanal production at a higher price. 6 shop owners were reported to the Judicial Authority for attempted fraud in commerce, with the simultaneous seizure of over 300 falsely declared doves and Easter eggs of “own production”. The 15 closure or suspension measures are due to “serious hygienic and structural situations”, where the use of expired chocolate, even for years, was also found.

In a pastry laboratory and a food industry in the province of Catania, 1,415 kg of pastry preparations and bases were seized, partly expired, without labeling and traceability, and partly stored in a location with serious hygienic-sanitary deficiencies due to the presence of rodent droppings.

In Italy, in a pastry laboratory in the province of Bergamo, 70 kg of chocolate and 90 kg of pastry products expired for several years were found, with non-conforming indications regarding the ingredients used. Administrative violations were contested for 3,500 euros.

In two pastry laboratories in the province of Rome, the owners of both activities were reported in freedom for putting on the market doves and Easter eggs of industrial production declared as artisanal gastronomic products. Poor hygienic and structural conditions were found, 33 packages of doves and 15 Easter chocolate eggs were seized, and fines totaling 4,000 euros were imposed.