The Civil Police of Minas Gerais concluded this Monday (5) the investigation into cases of contamination of canine snacks by monoethylene glycol and indicted four employees of the company Tecnoclean for the crimes of counterfeiting products and against public health.
The PCMG inquiry will be forwarded to the courts. If convicted, the four defendants face 10 to 15 years in prison, plus a fine.
According to the delegate in charge of the case, Danúbia Quadros, the investigations began on August 19 after two dog tutors went to the police with suspicion that the pets died after consuming a contaminated canine snack.
After several diligences, expert analyzes and seizure of cell phones and documentation, the police concluded that the company Tecnoclean sold monoethylene glycol – considered a highly toxic substance and that can lead to death when ingested – to the snack manufacturer Bassar.
The substance was used in the production of dog snacks in place of the non-toxic propylene glycol, which normally makes up the product. After manufacturing by Bassar, the contaminated snacks were purchased by the Petz chain and reached the final consumer.
The investigation proved that Tecnoclean changed the labels of packages that contained monoethylene, indicating that the content would be propylene glycol, thus assuming the risk of deceit to the final consumer.
Still according to the police, as monoethylene glycol is a cheaper product than propylene glycol, the practice may have been done to take financial advantage.
The company Tecnoclean, according to the investigations, bought monoethylene glycol from the São Paulo company AeD Química.
After the tecnoclean employees’ cell phones were seized, a message was found on one of the devices in which an AeD representative warned the Tecnoclean buyer that the substance could only be used in the industrial sector and not in the food sector, neither human nor animal.
In Minas Gerais alone, 14 dogs died after eating contaminated snacks. Across Brazil, the number of cases has already exceeded 50.
In all, five companies involved in the production or sale chain of snacks were investigated: Crystal Limp, AeD Química, Tecnoclean, Bassar and Petz.
Regarding the ban or partial or total stoppage of the activities of the companies involved, the Civil Police informed that the decision is in charge of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply.
THE CNN contacted Tecnoclean to comment on the case, but has not yet received a response. The company said it had “nothing to declare, at first”, adding that it “will speak in the records” of the process.
*With information from Bárbara Brambila, from CNN
Source: CNN Brasil
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