Blitz in school canteens: NAS suspends 21 catering companies

With the start of the 2019-2020 school year, the Carabinieri Health Protection Command, together with the Ministry of Health, has created a national control plan aimed at verifying the catering services and catering companies assigned to manage canteens at schools. 21 companies have been suspended following the investigations. The monitoring was planned to verify the regularity of such services provided in schools of all levels, both public and private, starting from nursery schools up to high schools, verifying the hygiene conditions in the workplace and in the storage of food, the compliance of the menus with the contractual clauses provided for in the tender specifications, the quality and wholesomeness of the food supplied, without neglecting the regularity of the workers employed and the possession of adequate qualifications and professional training. The execution of the inspection activities, underway since September, involved the inspection of 968 collective catering companies operating within school canteens, of which 198 highlighted irregularities, leading to the contestation of 25 criminal and 247 administrative violations of national and community regulations, with the consequent imposition of pecuniary sanctions for 204 thousand euros. In the same context, the suspension of activity or seizure of 21 catering companies (estimated economic value of approximately 3 million euros) was ordered due to significant hygiene, health and structural deficiencies. Over 900 kg of foodstuffs (meat, cheese, fruit and vegetables, oil) were also seized, found to be untraceable, stored in poor sanitary conditions and in inadequate environments, and intended for use in dishes although of lower quality than expected. In fact, the most recurring criminal violations contested to the 27 managers and owners of the companies, reported to the various Public Prosecutor's Offices, are related to fraud and failure to comply with public supplies, the possession of food in poor condition and failure to comply with the regulations on safety in the workplace. The investigations of the NAS reveal, in the cases of irregularities, the repeated fraudulent use of products of lower quality than that agreed and declared in the supply contracts stipulated with the Municipalities, in order to obtain an illicit profit by profiting from the difference in cost of the raw materials used in the preparation of the meals. Frequently, PDO or organic foods (cheeses, extra virgin olive oil, ham) are replaced with others of lower economic value which, although not presenting hygienic problems, do not possess any 2 designation of origin. Further checks highlighted the use of frozen/deep-frozen meat or vegetables instead of the fresh ones declared in the contract. The majority of the violations instead concern the administrative sphere such as the structural and plant deficiencies of the premises used for preparing meals, the failure to implement self-control and food traceability, the latter being fundamental to prevent possible episodes of poisoning, even more widespread in the sensitive groups of school users. Furthermore, there are situations where menus displayed to customers did not indicate the presence of allergens, and kitchen areas where foods for 'special' diets were prepared indiscriminately with conventional dishes, representing a potential risk of cross-contamination of highly allergenic substances for students who are sensitive due to medical conditions.