US experts inspecting Ukrainian cheese

KYIV, March 19 /UKRINFORM/. Samples of cheese of some Ukrainian producers are being inspected abroad for the content of vegetable fats. According to the preliminary data of inspections conducted by U.S. experts, palm oil was not found in Ukrainian cheeses.

First Deputy Chairman of the State Veterinary and Phytosanitary Service of Ukraine Volodymyr Horzheyev announced this during a roundtable meeting in Kyiv, an UKRINFORM correspondent said.

"More than 280 samples of cheese have currently been inspected for the content of vegetable fats, and we don't see any positive results in these samples. In addition, two types of cheese - Korol Artur and Smetankovy - were sent to a lab in the U.S. state of Colorado. U.S. experts have preliminarily found no palm oil in them," he said.

Horzheyev also said that Ukraine and Russia had currently established dialogue to resolve the situation regarding the introduction of a ban on imports Ukrainian cheese to Russia. Inspections are currently being conducted by working groups of both countries, after which Ukrainian exports will be resumed. The exchange of documents and preparations for inspections of Ukrainian cheese plants by Russian experts are continuing.

As reported, the Russian Federal Consumer Rights Service (Rospotrebnadzor) planned to inspect a number of cheese-making enterprises in Ukraine on March 19-30. However, Rospotrenadzor Chief Gennady Onishchenko said that inspections had been postponed.