Issues Found at ‘Pink Berry’ and Two Other Companies by Food Safety Authority

The Food Safety Inspection Body of Armenia has announced that it continues to present the results of inspections initiated in ice cream production facilities. Today, the research results from ice cream samples collected from three companies, namely ‘Igith’, ‘Pink Berry LLC’, and individual entrepreneur Azat Ghazanchyan, have become known.

The sample of ‘Igith LLC’ ice cream product ‘Eskimo Ice Cream with Vegetable Oil, Peach Flavor’ did not comply with the legislative norms regarding microbiological criteria (enterobacteriaceae), mesophilic aerobic facultative anaerobic bacteria, and the mass fraction of milk fat. The ‘Eskimo Ice Cream with Vegetable Oil, Banana Flavor’ also failed to meet standards in terms of enterobacteriaceae and milk fat mass fraction, while the ‘Vanilla Bricket with Vegetable Oil’ did not comply with the mesophilic aerobic facultative anaerobic bacteria and milk fat mass fraction criteria. Additionally, the ‘Vanilla Eskimo Ice Cream with Vegetable Oil’ sample did not meet the milk fat mass fraction standards (brand name: Igith).

The samples of ice creams produced by ‘Pink Berry LLC’, specifically the ‘Utopia’ vanilla chocolate chip ice cream, ‘This Burger’ vanilla biscuit ice cream, chocolate ice cream with milk fat replacer, and vanilla ice cream with milk fat replacer also failed to pass the microbiological criteria regarding enterobacteriaceae. The ‘Fruit Ice Cream’ with milk fat replacer did not meet standards for mesophilic aerobic facultative anaerobic bacteria and fat mass fraction as well.

From the production facility owned by individual entrepreneur Azat Ghazanchyan, only one sample, the ‘Vanilla Ice Cream with Milk Fat Replacer’, did not comply with the legislative standards concerning the presence of enterobacteriaceae.

The production activities of the mentioned companies related to the production of these ice cream types have been suspended, and a deadline has been set for eliminating the identified violations. Orders to withdraw, destroy, or remove from circulation will be issued for these products. According to the Customs Union Technical Regulation on ‘Safety of Milk and Dairy Products’ (CU TR 033/2013), dairy fat can only be replaced by milk fat replacer if the proportion of milk fat does not exceed 50 percent. The ice creams produced by the economic operator have recorded a mass fraction of milk fat ranging from 10-30 percent, thus considered dangerous and fraudulent food products.