Nutritional yeast: can you buy convenience foods at the store

In Krasnoyarsk Krai they are investigating the deaths of children who felt ill after a dinner of bought dumplings and chicken. The causes have not yet been established, and one of the most likely causes is pesticide poisoning, which may have accidentally got into the food instead of seasoning. However, the story once again highlighted the problems of the market of ready-to-eat food and semi-finished products, which, according to experts, is generally degrading in terms of safety. What are the problems in the industry and how to protect yourself from poisoning - "Izvestia" analyzed.

What are the causes of poisoning in the Krasnoyarsk region?

The tragedy in the village of Krasnaya Sopka in Krasnoyarsk Krai is shocking in its details: members of one family were poisoned after buying chicken and dumplings in a store, all four children died one after another, the husband and wife, who is nine months pregnant, were hospitalized in serious condition.

The dumplings and raw chicken were bought at a local store, which was immediately subjected to an inspection - and found violations. The Rosselkhoznadzor department said that most of the products came to the outlet without veterinary accompanying documents, that is, they were of unknown origin. But at the same time, pesticides were found in the house, which, it is assumed, could have been mistakenly added to the cooked food by the parents.

Earlier this year there were several other high-profile cases of poisoning with ready-to-eat food: in June in Moscow, Moscow Region, Nizhny Novgorod Region and the Republic of Tatarstan, 400 people were diagnosed with botulism after consuming salads from the service "Kitchen on the District", two died; in May, 30 residents of Kaliningrad Region were diagnosed with salmonellosis after consuming products from the delivery of proper nutrition Musli39.

-If we talk about the Krasnoyarsk story, I would not put it in the same chain with other cases of poisoning by food bought in stores, as the causes of the incident have not been clarified," said Alexei Koitov, Chairman of the Consumer Union of the Russian Federation.

However, the press service of Roskachestvo told Izvestia that based on the results of the store inspection by Rosselkhoznadzor employees, one cannot rule out the possibility that it was the products themselves, and not some factor that affected the quality of the food after cooking, that was deadly.

Why there are many cases of poisoning

Themarkets of semi-finished products and especially ready-to-eat food are currently in a degraded state in terms of their safety, Alexei Koitov told Izvestia.

-The explanation for this is very simple - since 2022 we have a moratorium on inspections, they are carried out by Rospotrebnadzor only in cases of harm to health or death," the expert explains. - The supervisory authority does not check food production, does not check the production of food and semi-finished products. And not very conscientious businesses take advantage of this and abuse it, allowing outright failures in safety issues.

Oleg Pavlov, head of the Public Consumer Initiative, agrees with him and also points to the moratorium on inspections as the reason for the worsening situation with food quality and safety. The biggest problems are in industries where digital labeling has not been introduced and there are no mechanisms for tracking products and blocking the sale of illegal goods.

-First of all, we are talking about canned products, sausage products, semi-finished meat products, confectionery, various groceries," he told Izvestia. - For some groups of goods, the increase in the number of violations and signs of violations in 2023 compared to 2022 amounted to 200%. Data for the whole year 2024 are not yet available, but the figures of warnings announced to businesses by supervisory authorities on the grounds of various violations are still very high.

Family tragedy: four children poisoned to death in Krasnoyarsk region

The couple lost all of their children and are now in the hospital in serious condition

The main technique of unscrupulous producers, he calls falsification of composition, when raw materials are replaced with cheaper ones, adding undeclared dyes, preservatives or flavorings, reducing the nutritional value of products. There are also cases of exceeding permissible values for microbiological indicators, and more and more often these violations "pose a direct threat to the life and health of consumers".

Alexei Koitov notes that the most problems are observed at the stage of production of finished products, namely with unsanitary conditions, improper control of output quality, etc. This is especially true for food that is not subject to further thermal processing. He calls storage issues secondary causes.

The chairman of the National Union of Consumer Rights Protection Pavel Shapkin also speaks about the problems with supervision. He believes that the system in principle needs to be changed, transferring control to the regional level, as the federal agencies have their hands "tied". Checking documentation will show little: even declarations of conformity are often not guarantees of quality - they can be made without actually analyzing a particular product, the expert continues.

Alexei Koytov notes that one of the alternatives to combat poor-quality products is a public assessment of business. The Ministry of Economic Development is proposing its introduction.

-It does not yet deal with manufacturers of finished products, but we would add them to this project, " said the chairman of the Consumer Union of the Russian Federation. - A number of measures there could ensure quality and safety control: this includes self-inspection, external quality and safety control through consumer feedback, and the results of control and supervisory activities. In any case, as long as the sector of food products and ready meals is not excluded from the general moratorium on inspections, these problems will unfortunately persist.

How to protect yourself from problems because of purchased food

Roskachestvo notes that the risk of dying from cooked food is close to zero if the goods are purchased in large retail chains.

- Roskachestvo research shows that in certain categories there are pathogens that can affect health and well-being, but, as a rule, this happens in goods that have not been heat treated, or under improper storage conditions, - noted in the organization. - We found such pathogens in chicken and dumplings: listeria, salmonella, E. coli bacteria and other bacteria. They get there in case of non-compliance with sanitary requirements or violation of temperature conditions at the stage of transportation and storage. But these bacteria are killed by heat treatment, so such categories should be boiled, fried, baked for at least 10 minutes.

Oleg Pavlov calls the main risk zone the purchase of products from unknown manufacturers and in non-network retail.

-Large brands and retail chains have their own quality control, as a rule, organized more carefully. However, risks cannot be completely ruled out here either," he said. - Consumers can be advised to focus on established brands, as well as to pay attention to the appearance and conditions in which products are stored in stores. Compliance with the temperature regime and the presence of all necessary information on the product in Russian (about the manufacturer, composition, expiration date, storage conditions) is mandatory.

Pavel Shapkin notes that dangerous consequences are most often revealed by accidental ingestion of poisonous substances in food. Botulism can be a serious danger, but it is still very rare: the National Union for Consumer Protection's measurements, which were carried out even before the situation with the poisoning of more than 400 people, did not show a single case of detecting this toxin in canned food or other products.

- Rather, the danger here is posed by products bought from private individuals: from a conventional grandmother who sells pickled mushrooms, for example," he notes.

How to choose food products and not get poisoned

When choosing frozen products in Roskachestvo recommend to pay attention to the integrity of the packaging, the temperature of the freezing equipment. Scattered products, such as dumplings, should not be sticky, otherwise there is a high risk that they have been defrosted and re-frozen.

Nutriciologist, member of the National Society of Nutritionists Mark Krasnoshchekov emphasizes that you should not buy frozen products if you can see water in the packaging. The expiration date must be indicated. There should be no odor from frozen products if they are stored in a sealed package.

He also urges you to be careful about the food in your freezer: each product has its own average shelf life. For fruits and vegetables it is 8-12 months, for fish - 3-6 months, for meat - 2-9 months, for poultry - 3 months.

- As for microorganisms in frozen products, it is a real threat, which can occur either during the preparation of products at the enterprise, or in the store itself with improper storage of goods, - says nutriciologist. - But, as a rule, poisonings occur with insufficient thermal processing of the product. For example, salmonella at 70 degrees dies within 5-10 minutes, boiling kills it immediately. Listeria is more resistant to temperatures, but even they can be defeated by boiling for at least five minutes.