Consumer Protection Secretariat discards 80 kg of food in Barra restaurants | Rio de Janeiro

Rio – The State Secretariat for Consumer Protection of Rio (Sedcon) seized and discarded 80 kg of food unfit for consumption in two restaurants in Barra da Tijuca, West Zone of Rio. The establishments inspected last Monday (6) were the Gran Parrilla steakhouse and the Toca da Traíra fish house.

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At Gran Parrilla, 50 kg of unsuitable food were identified, while at Toca da Traíra, another 30 kg of products were discarded. Among the items were cheese, potatoes, cassava, breaded chicken, Cuban rice, brown rice, sautéed onions, sausage and farofa. Groceries were found to be past their expiration date.

The state Secretary of Consumer Protection, Gutemberg Fonseca, clarified that, during inspections, all foods that are past their expiration date, spoiled or without a label indicating their expiration date are discarded. “Consumers cannot be left at risk of eating unsuitable food. We are increasingly receiving complaints through our service channels”, highlighted Gutemberg.

In the case where the 80 kg of food was discarded, it was a routine action. “Our agents do this every day. Through the Educa Consumidor Program, we visit several establishments and we are finding many irregularities”, he added. The ministry reported that it has already seized and discarded a ton of expired or unfit for consumption food in several establishments in the state this year alone.

The Educa Consumidor Program aims to encourage good practices in consumer relations. The ministry informed that in cases of flagrant violations of consumer protection rules, administrative proceedings are initiated, which can culminate in sanctions such as warnings, fines, bans, among others.

For consumers, Sedcon’s main guidance is to report whenever there is any suspicion of irregularity. The secretariat’s channels are WhatsApp (21) 99336-4848, telephone 0800-2020143 and email [email protected].

THE DAY sent requests for clarification and positioning to the restaurants, but received no response until the publication of this text.