POLICE were yesterday investigating the circumstances under which 14 tonnes of expired butter were dumped at a Nicosia district rubbish site.
Reporters and camera crews stumbled onto the find after they had been called to the Paliometochos rubbish dump by a Green Party representative who had come across several tonnes of cheese with an exceeded sell-by date that had been disposed of in the same area.
By the time the reporters made their way to the site, the cheese, which had been dumped the night before, had already been set alight by an unknown party, destroying any evidence of which dairy farmer or importer it had belonged to.
The dump was an obvious sign “some unscrupulous citizens” were trying to get rid of their expired products following the recent uproar, the Greens claimed.
Veterinary and public health service inspectors have stepped up inspections at all dairy farms and importers as well as restaurants, pizzerias, bakeries and delicatessens after finding expired cheese at two separate dairy suppliers.
Nearly 7,000 tonnes of expired cheese – some dating back over a year – was found at Adelphi Petrou and Klappas Trading Ltd. Both been reported to police and if charged face fines and/or imprisonment.
Kokkinotrimithia police station was alerted to the garbage site find, as it falls under its jurisdicition. Last night, officers confirmed they were investigating how the huge amount of butter had made its way to the garbage dump.
Although dumping the products at the garbage site was not criminal it did pose a health hazard for scavengers that frequented the area. Because of this police had the butter buried.
A witness told the Cyprus Mail the unsalted butter, which was of the small individually wrapped kind used in hotels and on airplanes, dated back to January 2005. It had been removed from its packaging, but the expiry date had transferred on to the butter itself and was still legible, he said.
“It was obvious it had been removed from the packaging and that whoever owned it planned to melt it down and then repackage it,” the witness added.
The butter was packed in around 1,000 cardboard boxes belonging to a food manufacturer. However, when questioned, the manufacturer said he only dealt in meat products and that the boxes must have been stolen from him.
Senior veterinary official Charalambos Kakoyiannis said it was possible the owner of the butter had dumped it after the recent frenzy. Nevertheless, dumping it did not mean whoever owned it had plans to sell it for public consumption, he added.
This may be true, but consumer confidence has plummeted following the discovery of 57kg of expired cheese at Semiramis Ltd, a Lakatamia bakery in Nicosia which had been supplied by Adelphi Petrou. Public health services also found six kilos of expired ham at the same bakery, prompting them to release its name to public. Although none of the cheese was consumed by the public, the health services are investigating to what extent the same applies to the ham.
Acting Public Health Services head George Giorgallas told the Cyprus Mail his department’s investigations were ongoing. On Thursday, it investigated 345 outlets, with many more expected to follow yesterday.
