Paraguayan officials warn against illegal traders selling frozen meat as fresh meat

Paraguay's Secretariat for the Protection of Consumers and Users (Sedeco) recently reported that a number of businesses were thawing different types of frozen meat and selling them as fresh. The consumption of such meat is harmful to the health of both humans and animals. Sedeco warned people not to buy or eat such meat and warned that businesses selling it would be fined.

Paraguay's Latest Hour newspaper reported on April 20 that in late March, some producers were found to have damaged the cold chain in the city of Capiata, Central Province, by selling frozen chicken that had been thawed as fresh chicken. The chicken, which is thought to be smuggled, sells for about half the price of fresh, compliant chicken.

Blanca Ceuppens, the head of the poultry company La Blanca, warned that if frozen meat products were defrosted and then sold, consumers would freeze and thaw them at home, changing the taste and taste, and bacteria in the products would multiply and be harmful to health. Selling defrosted chicken as fresh is a very despicable form of consumer deception. However, this practice has become increasingly common in shops and markets and should be investigated by Sedeco, the Ministry of Industry, Health and others.

Sedeco recently investigated a supermarket called "El Pueblo" in the city of Mariano Roque Alonso, which, instead of selling thawed meat as fresh, repackaged it with a label stating "for animal consumption." However, thawing and refreezing meat also poses a health risk to animals. Therefore, this practice is also not allowed by law and carries fines ranging from 20 times to 10,000 times the minimum daily wage.

Juan Marcelo Estigarribia, the director of Sedeco, said that while Sedeco does not have a list of stores that sell thawed meat as fresh, it checks the price and condition of the products on the market every week. The focus will be on meat products. Currently, inspections are taking place in stores in the Asuncion metropolitan area, and will later be extended to the interior of the country.