FVA Orders 12 VITA Dairy Products Withdrawn from the Market

Following official inspections and laboratory tests, the Food and Veterinary Agency (FVA) has ordered the withdrawal of 12 VITA Dairy products from the market after the results showed discrepancies with the contents declared to consumers.

According to the Agency’s announcement, palm oil, milk powder and starch were detected in products presented and sold as containing animal-derived ingredients, without being declared on the labels.

The FVA said that a total of 12 products were deemed non-compliant due to the undeclared presence of palm oil, milk powder and/or starch. For this reason, their withdrawal from the market was ordered.

According to the Agency, the most serious findings concern products that were marketed and declared as milk.

Four samples were taken from four products sold, presented and labeled as milk, and all were found to be non-compliant. Palm oil was detected in two of them, while milk powder was found in the other two, without being declared to consumers.

The Agency said that all these products originated from the same facility and operation, which is approved for milk production and processing.

Among the milk products analyzed, only one brand showed no presence of palm oil or milk powder and, consequently, was not classified as non-compliant.

Despite this result, the product has been placed under enhanced monitoring and will undergo continuous retesting because it is produced at the same facility and on the same milk production line where the discrepancies were identified.

During the inspection, 26 products containing plant-based ingredients were also identified as being produced outside the scope of the operator’s approval.

The FVA has suspended this production activity until the relevant approval is obtained from the Agency.

The report also identified an operation involving vegetable fat and milk protein for which the required special authorization was not presented at the time of the inspection.

The measures imposed by the FVA include the withdrawal of the 12 non-compliant products from the market, increased supervision and continuous retesting of the milk production line, as well as a ban on the production of the 26 products that fell outside the scope of the approval.

The Agency has also ordered an end to the misleading presentation of products and the suspension of veterinary certificates until all identified discrepancies have been corrected.