You're reading: Moldova to examine Roshen confectionery

Moldova, followed by Russia, could ban the sale in the country of confectionery produced by Ukraine's Roshen Corporation if an examination reveals the violation of quality standards, Deputy Head of the National Food Safety Agency of Moldova Grigore Porcescu has said.

According to the portal publika.md, Porcescu said that the examination would be conducted to analyze the contents of the chocolate.

“Benzopyrene is a toxic substance, but we are not looking for it in chocolate, it cannot be there…. If this substance is found, the chocolate will be banned in Moldova. Food that does not meet safety requirements should be removed from sale,” he said.

As reported, Russia’s Chief Sanitation Doctor Gennady Onishchenko said on Monday that the Russian sanitation authority had banned imports of Roshen products.

“Instructions have been given to customs bodies to ban the importation of confectionary products of Roshen company into this country,” he said.

On July 11, Rospotrebnadzor expressed its concern over the quality of Ukrainian confectionery products.

Roshen operates confectionery factories in Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Mariupol and Kremenchuk, Bershadmoloko dairy producer, a stud farm in Ukraine and also confectionary facilities in Klaipeda (Lithuania) and Lipetsk (Russia). The company produces up to 200 types of confectionaries. Its total annual production volume reaches 410,000 tons.

In addition to Russia, Roshen exports its output to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Moldova, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the United States, Canada, Germany and Israel.