Brazilian meat and Georgia

Brazil, which is one of the world's key frozen meat exporters and which exports meat to Georgia, has become a cause of a global food scandal.

China, which is the main importer of Brazilian meat, stated that Brazilian meat was beyond sanitary standards and imposed ban on the product last week.

On March 25, China lifted a total ban on imports of Brazilian meat imposed over allegations that companies have been selling unsafe produce for years, the BBC reported.

Brazil's Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi said the move followed a "huge effort" by officials to explain the investigation into tainted food.

Chile and Egypt have also lifted their bans, the Brazilian government says.

Brazil is the world's biggest red meat and poultry exporter, selling more than $12bn (£9.7bn) a year, according the foreign media.

The scandal was triggered by a huge federal police operation last week that found evidence that meat-packers had been selling rotten and substandard produce for several years.

Georgia receives about 80 tonnes of frozen Brazilian meat annually.

The country’s Ministry of Agriculture says they inspected a certain portion of the meat and found bacteria in some of the sumples.

The Ministry said they are going to continue checking the product, without any indication that Georgia may impose a ban on the products.

One of the most popular fast foods in Georgia is Shaurma, similar to Turkish Cevirme.

Georgian food experts say that most of the Shaurma facilities in Georgia use Brazilian meat, and they demand that the government exercise relevant controls on imported products at checkpoints and at relevant labs.

Food control in Georgia is not as it must be. Certain steps have been taken in this regard, however major work is still left to address the issue adequately.

Strong control on imported or locally produced products is essential as it is directly related to the health of the people in the country.