Palermo, NAS in restaurants in May: 516kg of food seized, 2 businesses closed

Palermo, NAS in restaurants in May: 516kg of food seized, 2 businesses closed.

As the summer season approaches, as part of the strategy established by the Carabinieri Health Protection Command, the Palermo NAS soldiers have increased, with the collaboration of the territorial commands of the force, control activities in the field of catering and of ethnic foods, with particular attention in the Sicilian capital, intensifying inspection activities, with the aim of preventing and repressing illicit conduct and ensuring compliance with the regulations to protect the health of citizens. 

The controls

During the month of May, NAS staff inspected 59 restaurants and found 9 establishments Palermo e Bagheria (PA) documentary irregularities and sanitary deficiencies. At the end of the checks, 5 people were reported to the Judicial Authority and 9 to the competent health authorities, as well as high administrative sanctions for a total of 15.900 euros.

During the checks, 516 kilograms of food, mainly fish and meat products, were also seized and the activity of 2 businesses was suspended. 

The violations

The main violations complained of were in relation to serious hygienic deficiencies in the premises or food preservation methods, lack of documentation certifying the origin of the products, omissions in self-control procedures in compliance with the HACCP system, failure to communicate on the use of equipment and changes to the premises on the health records and, in one case, an employee was found not to have a training certificate for food staff. 

During the checks, which were also extended to the provinces of Agrigento and Trapani, a violation was detected in Alcamo (TP), at an ethnic food shop, in whose premises 140 liters of olive oil were found contained in plastic bins without of labels and missing documentation regarding the origin of the product, which were subjected to seizure.