Cagliari: Dust and iron found in a coffee roasting plant: €50,000 worth of coffee seized.

"Hygiene and sanitation deficiencies attributable to the total lack of regular and extraordinary cleaning."

As part of their monthly "Coffee Roasting Activities" campaign, Carabinieri officers from the Cagliari Anti-Adulteration and Health Unit seized thousands of euros worth of coffee from a coffee roasting plant in the Stampace district.

Both the approximately 17-square-meter mezzanine area, used for coffee roasting, and an adjacent area connected to the drinking water supply system, were in poor condition . Operators noted the presence of dusty, unsanitizable materials, such as books, various tools, disused equipment, and iron.

On the ground, dust mixed with coffee processing residues and old packaging that had not been removed for some time, as well as accumulations of organic material potentially capable of causing contamination.

NAS staff ordered the administrative seizure of the entire area, while violations were reported for failure to perform routine and extraordinary cleaning, the absence of a hygiene self-monitoring plan (HACCP), and the failure to apply the procedures required by the plan itself.

A total of 920 kilograms of coffee were seized, 490 of which were in sacks of beans and the remainder already ground and ready for sale, with an estimated value of approximately €50,000. Administrative fines amounted to €5,000.

(Unioneonline)