As the current school year continues, the Carabinieri command for the protection of healthin agreement with the Ministry of Health, has carried out a nationwide inspection campaign aimed at verifying the restaurant services and catering companies assigned to manage canteens at schools.
The inspections involved 1,058 catering establishments operating in school canteens of all levels, from nursery schools to high schools, both public and private. Among the controlled companies, 341 highlighted irregularities, equal to 31%, ascertaining 482 criminal and administrative violations, with the consequent imposition of pecuniary sanctions for 240 thousand euros, contested due to violations in food management and hygiene conditions in the premises of meal preparation, in the lack of compliance in quality and quantity with the pre-established requirements of the tender specifications, in the regularity of employment of the workers and relative possession of adequate qualification and professional preparation.
In the same context, the suspension of the activity or the seizure of 9 kitchen areas operating within the school canteens was ordered due to significant hygienic-sanitary and structural deficiencies, such as the widespread presence of humidity and mold formation. In one episode, the Power NAS discovered a toilet used as an impromptu storage of crockery and kitchen utensils.
More than 700 kg of foodstuffs were also seized (meat, cheese, fruit and vegetables, oil) found to lack traceability, expired validity and kept in unsuitable environments as well as intended for use in dishes although of lower quality than expected.
Particular situations concerned the referral to the GA of 22 canteen service managers held responsible for crimes of fraud and non-compliance with public supplies, possession of food in a poor state of conservation and non-compliance with workplace safety legislation.
The investigations of NAS have detected the fraudulent use of ingredients of lower quality than that agreed in the supply contracts stipulated with the Municipalities, such as Parmigiano DOP replaced with other cheeses, conventional eggs instead of those from organic farming and frozen products instead of fresh ones. The absence of one of the ingredients was also ascertained, as in an institute in the province of Caserta, where the “pasta and potatoes” dish was given to the students without the presence of potatoes.
The majority of infractions, equal to 85%, concerned aspects of administrative sanctions such as structural and plant deficiencies in the rooms used for preparing meals, failure to implement self-monitoring, traceability and the presence of allergens, fundamental elements for preventing possible episodes of intoxication and allergic reactions, even more significant in the sensitive groups of school users.
Here are some of the more significant interventions:
in Brescia
Following the inspection carried out in the canteen of a private school in Bergamo, the presence was found, among the raw materials used for the preparation of the meals, of foods no longer suitable for consumption, such as fresh pasta with expired validity and flours with minimum retention period
exceeded for a year. During three further checks carried out in the canteens of as many school complexes in the same province, poor hygienic conditions were found, for various reasons, the use of out-of-date food for the preparation of meals and the presence of arbitrarily frozen foodstuffs without follow the procedures.
Nas Treviso
40 kg of frozen food products (meat, fruit and vegetables and dairy products) seized, partly expired and partly untraceable because stored in anonymous packages, found during the check carried out in the canteen of a school in the province of Treviso .
In the same context, hygienic-sanitary and structural deficiencies in the premises were ascertained, and fines totaling 3,500 euros were imposed against the owner of the company managing the school canteen service.
Nas Cremona
During the check carried out at the cooking center of a primary school in the province of Pavia, serious structural deficiencies were found consisting of water infiltrations, mould, torn ceiling panels, as well as the failure to apply the self-checking procedures. Administrative fines were imposed for a total of 3,000 euros and restoration work on the premises was ordered.
In the Sassari
The legal representative of a cooperative managing the canteen of a kindergarten / primary school in the province of Sassari was deferred in a state of freedom, for having held and administered to pupils food of a different quality than that envisaged in the related contract for the canteen service , represented by cod and pre-cooked, frozen and breaded meat products instead of fresh ones, and generic eggs instead of the organic ones provided for in the tender specifications.
Nas Napoli
Ordered the suspension of the administration and sale of food and drinks at the refreshment point operating within a classical high school in Naples where poor hygienic conditions were found with reference to the equipment and environments for the storage and administration of gastronomy preparations . 50 kg of confectionery and foodstuffs intended for students and teaching staff were subjected to seizure, lacking any useful traceability information. The inspection activity was extended to the artisan production laboratory that supplied the confectionery products, located in Naples, which was found to have very serious structural health and hygiene deficiencies, for which the suspension of the activity was ordered. A further 400 kg of raw materials, semi-finished and finished products were subjected to seizure. Contested administrative violations for a total of Euro 7,500.
Nas Power
Following the inspection activity at a comprehensive school in the province of Matera, a toilet facility in the gymnasium was discovered which was temporarily used as a deposit for crockery and kitchen utensils to be used in the local school canteen.
Nas Bari
Following the check carried out at the cooking center supplying meals for a school complex, the immediate suspension of the activity was ordered in consideration of the serious hygienic-sanitary and structural deficiencies found.
nas catania
During the hygienic-sanitary inspection carried out at the meal production laboratory of the company awarded the school meal service for primary and kindergarten schools in the province of Catania, 17 kg of food preparation was seized with no indication of provenance, used for breading food. The presence of defrosted meat products without temperature control was also detected.
At the refectory of another comprehensive school in Catania, some heat-sealed packages of meals were seized, due to the presence of foreign bodies (probably of a human hair nature), with the simultaneous taking of some food samples for analytical determinations. The owner of the food company responsible for supplying meals to the school has been released.
In relation to the description of specific interventions carried out by the NAS in this press release, the persons referred to the judicial authorities are to be considered presumed innocent until a definitive finding of guilt in a subsequent trial.