Hepatitis A in frozen fruit, aflatoxin in soybean flour, wire in gnocchi, listeria in smoked salmon, cadmium in frozen strawberries - all these are undesirable substances found in Serbian exported foodstuffs to the European market from the beginning of 2025.
Now Greece has also issued a warning that sulfur dioxide was found in dried apricots from Serbia, it was announced on the website European food alert and notification system (RASFF).
Apricots have been withdrawn from the market and the health risk has been labeled as "serious".
This is the 23rd warning published on the RASFF website this year, which refers to products originating in Serbia.
The most common reason is the presence of aflatoxin B1.
Who is responsible?
Professor of the Faculty of Agriculture in Novi Sad, Igor Jajić, recently explained to Newsmax Balkans that the producers are most responsible for the quality of food, i.e. those who put food on the market and who are obliged to control their own products in accordance with the law.
The responsibility also rests with the inspections of the Veterinary Administration and the Plant Production Administration, which are in charge of quality control, and their jurisdiction and frequency of control should be greater, Jajić said.
What does the law say?
Quality control is established by the Law on Food Safety and, according to that law, the Ministries of Agriculture and Health, i.e. their competent inspections, and reference laboratories deal with it.
And the law states that producers are responsible, and that they are obliged to ensure that food for humans and animals meets all the conditions prescribed by this law and the regulations adopted based on it.
However, despite all these legal provisions, it often happens that undesirable substances are found in food.
New law, greater security?
Serbia could soon receive a new Law on Food Safety, which will for the first time introduce a system of faster notification and more effective response in the event of unsafe food appearing on the market.
The main goal of this law is to protect consumer health and strengthen confidence in the food control system in Serbia.
By adopting this law, Serbia will harmonize regulations with European Union standards, which is an important step towards fulfilling Criterion 1 for the opening of Chapter 12 - Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy, as part of negotiations with the EU.
A working version of the law has been prepared, but its adoption is not on the agenda of the first session of the assembly scheduled for October 7.
