Clipping of news on Brazilian Culture, Law and Citizenship
15/05/2013
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
PORTO ALEGRE - The Public Ministry of Rio Grande do Sul (MP) admitted yesterday that the adulteration of milk with added urea - containing formaldehyde, a carcinogen - is taking place for at least four years in the state. Evidence of fraud appeared in a request for information made to the State Revenue on buying urea transporters product. According to the survey, the purchases have intensified since 2009.
The prosecutor Alcindo Bastos Filho, the Specialized Prosecutor's Office of Consumer Protection, declined to determine the amount of milk and swiped or companies for which it was intended. But confirmed that the chemical was purchased by carriers to be added to milk, masking effect of dilution with water, which increased the income of entrepreneurs in 10%.
Dairy industry goes to Brasilia
The MP did not disclose the amount of urea acquired by carriers between 2009 and 2012, claiming that many entrepreneurs are still under investigation. The prosecutor said, however, that the amount reported by the state is "slightly below" the hundred tons tracked by Operation Milk Compen $ ado, we caught the fraud committed by carriers on Wednesday. Each pound of urea industry was enough, by the formula discovered by MP, to defraud thousand liters of milk.
- It is a concrete indication that fraud had been practiced for a long time, at least since 2009. The formula of tampering circulated far and by this means a lot of people who still have - Bastos Filho said.
The prosecutor cited as an aggravating factor the fact that the carrier knew that neither the industry nor the warehouses that store and pass on to the milk processing, had been conducting tests to detect the presence of urea. Furthermore, the fact that the Ministry of Agriculture does not establish technical standards for the presence of the component in raw milk or UHT version, which encourage fraud. Urea is part of the natural composition of milk, but there is no official resolution on the recommended levels, Bastos Filho explained:
- If not for the presence of formaldehyde, or would like to determine that there was fraud because the legislation is silent regarding the presence of urea.
Next week, officials from the Ministry of Agriculture will meet with representatives of the milk chain in Brasilia to discuss changes in the relationship of the dairy industry with carriers and the possibility of creating a parameter to the amount of urea in the product.
According Bastos, will only be possible to determine accurately the extent of fraud after skills in computers and documents seized.
The prosecutor said it will ask for a reconsideration of the request for arrest of councilor Larri Jappe, denied by the courts. One of the milk samples containing tampering expertise was confirmed by truck carrier owned by Jappe. In addition, 59 bags of urea were seized in the operation in the company sheds Alderman in Horizontia.
In a statement, reaffirmed that the carrier is not involved in the fraud and urged 300 milk producers who make the collection attention with untrue rumors and "a possible use of unfair investigatory action being exploited by third parties with commercial interests."
Heard yesterday by prosecutor Mauro Rockembach, which investigates fraud, Leandro Vicenzi, arrested on suspicion of fraud, denied the allegations. Vicenzi justified the purchase of urea for use in a family farm, managed by her father. The reports, however, showed evidence of formaldehyde in fresh milk transported and stored by Vicenzi.
Others have also investigated request for remand requested by the MP, which expects to complete part of the complaint until the next Thursday.
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Source: The Globe - Online
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This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.