Wal-Mart was fined in Bahia Blanca for selling bad fish. (Photo: Stock File /FIS)

Wal-Mart fined for selling spoiled fish

The District Court N° 1 of Bahia Blanca, in the province of Buenos Aires, applied a fine of almost ARS 100,000 (USD 26,000) to a branch of the supermarket Wal-Mart for selling spoiled fish.

In addition, it closed the fish market within its premises for 20 days for violating the Argentine Alimentary Code, following an inspection undertaken in 2009.

Municipal inspectors converged on the branch on 30 September of last year as a result of a complaint filed by clients of the supermarket’s fish market, where they detected 331 kilograms of spoiled fish.

Of that total, 326 kg were of narrownose smooth-hound (Mustelus schmitti) and 5 kg of Argentine angelshark (Squatina argentia), sold under the brands Natural Fish and Terramare from Mar del Plata, La Nueva Provincia reports.

“The closure is not preventative; it is a temporary closure. I understand that it had to be 20 days and the tape placed must be clearly evident so that the consumer public knows that a measure of this nature has been taken,” said District Judge Ricardo Germani.

“At the end of the collection of evidence carried out by the National Food Safety and Quality Service (SENASA), it was determined that the Wal-Mart fish was not suitable for consumption, thus violating Article 271, of Law 18284 of the Argentine Alimentary Code, and for that reason I levied a fine and the temporary closure of the fish market,” the judge told Telam.

In terms of the value of the fine, Germani explained that the figure was set “by the indictment of 56 minimum wages of a starting municipal employee, that is, ARS 1,738 (USD 451), which when multiplied totals almost ARS 100,000.”

“The fine is calculated within the limits established by the Code of Municipal Infractions, which determines that it cannot surpass 100 wages of an employee. Here in this case we are talking about half that allowed by law,” the judge added.

In addition, he warned that if after 72 hours [as from 5 February] no one interposes any resource or appeal before the Criminal Correctional Court, his sentence “stands.”

Meanwhile, the legal representative of Wal-Mart, Jorge Maria Ramos, said that “he cannot affirm under any supposition that the merchandise at issue was rotten.”

“There were only a few kilos on sale on which the inspection fell. This type of fish of the shark, Argentine angelshark and narrownose smooth-hound family has in its origin much higher protein levels than other varieties, which is why some processes like defrosting or cooking can make the same bring about smells and colours stronger than other similar products like hake (Merluccius hubbsi). The flavour is even a little sharper,” Ramos indicated.

“The inspectors only based [their findings] on colour and smell, not considering the type of merchandise it was, nor measurement elements like acidity and temperature that could verify the true quality or innocuity of the products seized,” he concluded.

By Analia Murias
[email protected]
www.seafood.media

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