The Croatian Agriculture Ministry said Monday that the large number of cases of food recalls from the market due to the presence of pesticide or other factors is "proof that the food safety and consumer protection system is functioning," state agency Hina reported, citing an unsigned press release.

“The Ministry said in a statement that the head of its Veterinary and Food Safety Department, Tatjana Karacic, and her associates had held a meeting with representatives of the Karlovac-based consumer protection association “Korana” to discuss food safety in light of increasingly frequent cases of food recalls,” Hina reported.

“A non-compliant additive E410 was found to have been used In the production of the food products that have been withdrawn from the market and the presence of ethylene oxide, which is banned in the EU, was identified. Those were extremely small amounts of the additive that is used in the production process, and the amount of ethylene oxide in the additive was also relatively small,” the Ministry said.

The Ministry also said that in June and July a conclusion was adopted at the EU level to withdraw products from the market as soon as the presence of the pesticide ethylene oxide is established.

“The Ministry recalled that the EU had the strictest legislation about food safety in the world,” Hina said.