Another alarm signal for food safety in Albania comes from four analysis reports dated October 27-29, which show that milk taken from Albanian farms contained aflatoxin M1 levels several times above the maximum limit allowed by the European Union. The data once again raise strong doubts about the effectiveness of controls across the dairy production and trade chain.
Four analyses with significant exceedances
According to the published results, the maximum limit allowed by the EU for aflatoxin M1 in milk is 0.050 ppb per liter. In one of the analyses, the level was 0.154 ppb, or 208% above the permitted standard.
In another case, the exceedance was reported at 128%, while in the other analyses the limit was exceeded by 106% and 104%. The figures suggest that the problem is not limited to a single isolated case, but may affect different links in the milk supply chain.
Experts speak of a real risk to consumers
Food safety expert Kapllan Sulja warns that a several-fold increase in aflatoxin levels translates into greater risk for consumers. According to him, aflatoxin M1 is classified as carcinogenic and primarily affects the liver.
This assessment moves the debate beyond laboratory figures: it concerns a substance that, if it enters the market without being stopped in time, ends up directly with the consumer through milk and its by-products.
Questions over the role of AKU and the control chain
According to experts, the problem does not stop at the farm. If contaminated milk is not blocked at the source, it can circulate through street sales, small dairies and all the way to processing plants, where it is used for various dairy products.
Ana Vuksani, a food safety expert, also links the issue to findings from a KLSH audit, stressing that 64% of importers, processors and traders of grains and flour have not been inspected in the last five years. According to her, contamination may begin with animal feed and then pass into milk and other products such as butter, yogurt and cheese.
Product blocking and lack of traceability
Experts argue that milk containing aflatoxin should not be allowed onto the market, but should be blocked and destroyed. According to them, intervention should begin with laboratory testing of every corn shipment intended for animal feed and continue with inspections at farms, markets and processing factories.
Another issue raised is the lack of traceability from farm to table. According to this assessment, this is also one of the reasons why Albania is unable to export products of animal origin to the European market.
The case highlights not only the risk to consumers, but also long-standing gaps in food safety controls.
When analyses like these show such high exceedances, responsibility cannot rest only with the farmer or the final trader: the burden falls on the institutions tasked with stopping the product before it reaches the table.