Austria: 'Organic' veg scam reaches Austria

Source: austrianindependent.com

OrganicPortal NewsRoom

Considerable amounts of fake organic vegetables were shipped into Austria, it has emerged.

The Austrian health ministry said yesterday (Weds) that "several hundred tons of soy and small volumes of rapeseed" were transported from Italy to neighbouring Austria by two companies suspected of being entangled in a vast business scandal.

Thousands of tons of allegedly organic vegetables and fruits were confiscated in Italy earlier this month when authorities found out that firms ignored guidelines for organic harvesting. Officials stressed that the fraud had no effects on humans’ health.

It was initially reported that none of the fraudulent enterprises shipped their products to Austria before the country’s health ministry – which is headed by Social Democrat (SPÖ) Alois Stöger – announced that soy and rapeseed was sold to domestic companies. The ministry explained their Italian colleagues had not yet informed them about details regarding when the products were transported from Italy to Austria.

Regularly harvested vegetables and fruits worth up to 220 million Euros were sold as organic by the suspected conmen, according to Italian investigators. Seven people were put into custody.

Specialised shops and regular supermarkets sold more than 116,000 tons of organic products in Austria in 2010, according to the country’s agricultural branch authority Agrarmarkt Austria (AMA). The organisation said this was an increase of 21.5 per cent compared to the year before. Surveys show that 60 per cent of Austrians consider organic products’ higher prices as justified.

Foodstuff sector shops make six per cent of their overall turnover by selling organic products in Austria these days, according to examinations. Especially the country’s major supermarket chains were benefiting from the trend to opt for organic dairy products, bread and non-food products produced in an eco-friendly way, according to market analysis group RegioPlan. The agency said the established chains were also expanding their advantage against discounters thanks to a higher focus on offering organic food.

Meanwhile, the overall price for products and services on offer in Austria rose by 3.4 per cent from October 2010 to the same month of this year. Vegetables became three per cent cheaper but the price of dairy products (plus seven per cent) and coffee (plus 24 per cent) shot up.

Austrian farmers recently called on shoppers to appreciate the high quality of food produced in Austria instead of deploring price hikes. The Chamber of Agriculture stressed Austria’s food quality and safety standards were much stricter than European Union (EU) regulations in many regards. The chamber also pointed out that genetically manipulated products were banned completely in the country which joined the EU in 1995.

Tip: OrganicPortal Austria - Biologische Essen

OrganicPortal NewsRoom

05.01.2012

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