Guardia Civil seize fishy shipment from Turkey

Seprona seize 12 tonnes of improperly labelled bream and bass

OFFICERS from the Guardia Civil’s environmental service, Seprona have investigated three Spanish men and a company in Alicante province for alleged offences against public health, against the market and consumers, and falsification of documents.

Patrols, in collaboration with the regional fisheries inspector, seized 11,500 kilos of sea bream and sea bass due to alleged irregularities on the labels showing their origin and expiration date which could pose a risk to consumers’ health.

They inspected a company dedicated to fattening, importating and marketing fish products, located in the southern part of Alicante province, which regional press reports claimed to be in Guardamar del Segura. Officers discovered the company was packaging sea bream and sea bass from local fish farms to sell to consumers via various food suppliers.

However, the company imported the same species of fish from Turkey, which were repacation kaged and re-labelled to say they originated from Spain, and changing the date they had been caught to extend their expiration date.

The officers were able to verify on the spot that the products had reached retail outlets under these irregular conditions. The colour of the gills and eyes of the fish on display and in the freezers indicated they were not as fresh as the labels indicated.

Due to the risk that consuming these products posed to consumers, which was endorsed by food safety inspectors, officers destroyed about 12 tonnes of repackaged fish from a warehouse and three supermarkets.

Seprona is continuing their investigation to determine how long the company has been carrying out this illegal activity and the amount of fish it had sold in this way.

More unhygienic fish was seized by Elche local police from a delivery van in La Marina de Elche.

On August 6, officers spotted the vehicle was badly parked and noticed a strong smell of fish and water leaking out of it.

The driver claimed to have bought the 85 kilograms of seafood in it from the Alicante fish market but had no receipt, and it was not being properly transported or conserved, so a food inspector reported him.

Then around noon on August 19, officers near the beach saw the same vehicle with water leaking from it and called an inspector again. They found it contained 60kg of fish and molluscs without refrigeror ice to preserve it.

The driver said he had bought it in Santa Pola early that morning and kept it in the van since then, breaking the chain of cold and posing a risk to consumers’ health, along with other violations.

He may also be charged with a public health offence and the health service has been informed of places the merchandise may have been distributed to.