Reports of glass in food products in Finland
Åland meat pie examined by police after widespread sabotage in Sweden
Fear of pieces of glass hidden in processed foods spread to Finland during the weekend. In Sweden there have been reports of glass fragments embedded in packages of chicken and other processed foods for some time already.
The Finnish Food Safety Authority (EVIRA) has received reports from several people who suspect that food products they have bought might contain pieces of glass.
“There has been a handful of contacts. They are connected with very different kinds of products, from Karelian pies, to salads, and sliced meat”, says EVIRA Director-General Jaana Husu-Kallio.
Reports have come from different parts of Finland. “There is no common denominator with these products, and we were not sure if glass was involved.”
The Tampere-based newspaper Aamulehti reported on Friday that a family living in Lapua had found three pieces of glass in a package of frozen vegetables. On Saturday EVIRA contacted a local official who conferred with the family in question.
The Food and Environmental Laboratory in Seinäjoki confirmed that the very small objects found in the frozen vegetables were glass, but they appeared to be different from the larger pieces found in Sweden.
On Saturday, the late edition tabloid Ilta-Sanomat wrote about a man who believes that he bit a piece of glass in a chicken, and the Joensuu-based newspaper Karjalainen reports that a loaf of bread produced by the Swedish bakery Pågens, and bought in Lieksa in the east of Finland, was found to contain glass.
Police in the Åland Islands are looking into a case in which a consumer reported finding pieces of glass in a meat pie.
The Pirkka meat pie was bought at a food store in the islands on Thursday. The pie is being examined by police.
A man in the Ostrobothnia region reported finding glass in some chicken, and contacted the customer service department of the packer, says Jaana Husu-Kallio of EVIRA.
Authorities are examining the reports, and hope to determine if the products really have been contaminated by glass, and if the objects were really inside the product, or if they might have come from somewhere in the customer’s kitchen, for example.
Husu-Kallio said on Sunday that there was no positive confirmation yet on actual contamination of food products in Finland. She also said that nothing suggested that any of the risky products from Sweden had reached Finland.
In Sweden, the uproar over shards of glass found in various foodstuffs has expanded in recent days, and large amounts of foodstuffs have been taken off the market in recent days.
Swedish police are investigating the matter as a case of sabotage.
Husu-Kallio says that Finns have no reason for alarm at this stage. EVIRA has been in touch with Sweden’s food authority, and the situation is being monitored.
“There is no reason for panic in Finland, but naturally, the entire production chain should do all it can every single day to make sure that consumers do not get [faulty] products. The production chain is responsible for the quality and safety of the products.”
Husu-Kallio believes that possible discoveries of glass in Finnish food are isolated incidents.
She notes that when there is much news coverage, people are genuinely worried, but unfortunately, there will also be malicious behaviour.
If something unusual is found in food, Husu-Kallio primarily recommends checking to see if the object might not be from the consumer’s own kitchen. Next is the shop where it was bought, and after that, local officials responsible for food safety should be approached. The product and the package should be saved for investigation.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 6.4.2009 - TODAY |
 Reports of glass in food products in Finland |
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