9 Juin 2005 - The Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority (CAFIA) carried out an extensive inspection of the quality of late and early potatoes that are now on the market.
The inspectors checked at producers, wholesalers, and mainly in the trade network a total of 394 lots of potatoes (363 late potatoes and 31 early potatoes), out of which 69 (17.5%) did not comply with quality requirements.
The inspectors checked in selected establishments all potatoes that were on the market at the time of the inspection, regardless whether they were domestic or imported. Among lots inspected, there were 48 lots of imported potatoes, out of which 4 lots (8%) did not comply with regulations, and 346 lots of domestic potatoes, out of which 65 lots (19%) were of non-complying quality.
The most common deficiencies were presence of dry rot and defects of the flesh, part of potatoes were sprouted, mechanically impaired, or affected by wet rot. Potatoes were incorrectly labelled in few cases only (5 lots): lacking boiling type or potatoes were labelled as early potatoes but they had firm skin (the skin of early potatoes must be easy to peel) or they lacked labelling in Czech.
When comparing results of potato inspections for last five years, more favourable progression of their quality is apparent. While in 2001 the inspectors identified nearly 46% of
non-complying lots, in 2002 it was 23%, and a year later 18%. However, the majority of deficiencies were identified on the market, which is probably a consequence of improper storage and handling of potatoes.
The CAFIA pays systematic attention to inspection of potatoes, therefore the inspections will continue. However, also suppliers of potatoes, who should care how their goods are handled, and consumers have an effective weapon against marketing of poor quality potatoes. If consumers do not reconcile themselves to poor quality goods being sold to them and they will shop elsewhere and if they find courage to reclaim low quality potatoes, they may create an appreciable market pressure on sellers themselves.