Following reports of fragments of snakes, rats, snails that were found in its frozen vegetable products, the Sunfrost company (a subsidiary of Tnuva) has announced a recall of all of its frozen bean products.
Radio 103 FM spoke with supermarket giant Rami Levy to hear his professional opinion on the disturbing discoveries.
"I understand that such things can happen in agriculture, but I would have expected large companies to use more innovative technology to catch them on time," said Levy at the beginning of the discussion. "One thing we know already is that all the affected products grew from the ground where snails and snakes are found. Obviously I don't think these need to be in our food, but from now on, after what's happened, the large companies need to be more innovative with more advanced technology to inspect their products before bringing them to market.
"I hope that this will also prompt consumers to check what they buy more thoroughly," Levy added. "Such things can happen as vegetables grow from the ground, and consumers should accept that it's a good idea to check them once in a while. All the same, at the end of the day, the responsibility is not the consumer's -- it's the manufacturer's. Consumers deserve to receive the very best."
When asked what message he has for consumers and companies, Levy said: "I'm confident that the large companies will take this to heart and deal with problems. It's very fortunate that no disaster occurred here, and I'm sure this will serve as a prompt to introduce newer technology for checking things more thoroughly, to make sure something like this doesn't happen again."
When asked whether he would advise consumers to stop buying Sunfrost products until the company adopts a more advanced checking system, Levy emphasized that he thinks everyone should continue purchasing the products they have purchased in the past. "Something like this has not happened for many years, and these product have been on our shelves for decades, and this could have happened with anything that grows from the ground. The large manufacturers need to pay renewed attention to their production lines so that consumers can trust their products. The Health Ministry's regulations always make things more difficult, but manufacturers need to make sure that the consumer gets the cleanest product. The Health Ministry is only doing its job."