The Prosecutor’s Office of the Brest Region, together with the State Control Committee, conducted inspections of school meal services. Numerous violations were identified, although inspectors concluded that the system “operates effectively overall, but certain shortcomings are being detected.”
As an example, prosecutors cited one educational institution in the Luninyets District. There, the menu replaced an omelette with butter with milk-based rice porridge, and the weight of the dish Zrazy from Pork with Cheese was reduced by 15 grams.
In Pinsk, at one educational institution, one surveillance camera used to monitor the unloading of products was installed at a long distance, and another directly above the loading ramp. In addition, footage from these cameras was not displayed on the monitor at the security post. According to prosecutors, this contributed to the theft of food supplies.
Other shortcomings listed include:
• failure to comply with cleaning schedules and personal hygiene rules by kitchen staff;
• violations in the organization and implementation of production control, including the failure to conduct quality checks of prepared dishes;
• deviations from food preparation technology (failure to follow requirements for processing raw ingredients, failure to adhere to cooking standards, improper labeling of kitchenware and cutting equipment, and others);
• daily menus not meeting sanitary and epidemiological requirements (in terms of dish variety, reduced portion sizes), along with other violations.