A company that assembles food baskets in São José do Rio Preto, northwest of the state of São Paulo, was inspected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa) on November 21 and 1,332 five-kilogram packages of rice were seized.
The fiscal analysis showed that the grains corresponded to type 5 (of lower quality), but the packaging contained type 1. In that operation, the seized product totaled 6,660 kilos and the cereal was packaged by a company from Colina, also in São Paulo. .
Company from Rio Grande do Sul
In the same inspection, Mapa seized two lots of rice totaling 2,418 5-kilo packages packaged by another company, established in Rio Grande do Sultotaling 12,090 kilos. The two combined stocks removed from shelves and warehouses 18.75 tons of non-compliant food.
In this second case, one lot was classified as type 3 and the other as “off type”, a technical classification that indicates an excess of broken, pitted, yellow and dark beans. Both lots had “Type 1 Rice” in their containers, which designates those of superior quality.
The cases were not disclosed until this Friday (29), when the report demonstrating consumer fraud was ready. To be considered type 1, the limit of split and broken grains may not exceed 7.5% of the total weight.
However, in one of the cases, the laboratory result showed that they corresponded to 53.54% of the total weight, that is, seven times the limit established by legislation. In this case, Annex VII of Ministerial Regulatory Instruction No. 06, of February 16, 2009, was applied. This standard approves the technical regulation of rice for broken grains and quireras.
Rice seized at the beginning of the month
At the beginning of November, a similar case occurred in a supermarket chain in Araraquara, in the center of São Paulo, where Mapa seized 10.5 tons of type 3 rice. The packaging also said that they were type 1.
The Ministry reinforces, in a note, that it will only disclose the names of the companies once the administrative process is completed, but reinforces that all rights of defense will be granted to the companies, whose irregularities will be investigated in the tax administrative processes.
They will have the opportunity to request expert reports and, if non-conformities are confirmed, they will be fined as provided in article 76 of the Federal Decree.
Obligations of companies
Companies will also have to replace seized non-compliant batches of products with compliant batches. Those that were not classified correctly will return to the industries for reprocessing into type. According to Mapa, this operation must be supervised by tax agents from the states where the companies are established, that is, São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul.
The Ministry of Agriculture asks consumers who are suspicious of the quality of plant or plant-based products found in commerce to report it to the “Fala BR” Platform.
