Strict controls

“SOKO Strawberry” is now on the hunt for rotten fruit

Focus campaign by food inspectors at the height of the strawberry season.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Markus Tschepp)

Food inspectors scrutinize the sweet fruit at sales stands. Origin and pesticide residues are checked. Have the "strawberry investigators" caught many black sheep among the traders?

The strawberry season is approaching its peak, which is why hundreds of stalls line the local country roads. But do the fruits on offer there live up to the promises made on the labels or by word of mouth?

Strawberries are one of the most popular summer fruits in Lower Austria. Accordingly, attention must be paid to quality.(Bild: GabrieleMoser)

Every tenth stand was inspected
The province's consumer protection department spent almost a week investigating this issue. "Food inspectors inspected almost every tenth stall in Lower Austria," explains Susanne Rosenkranz (FPÖ), the state councillor responsible. In particular, attention is paid to the origin of the strawberries, which must be clearly visible on the stalls. Only farm-gate sales are exempt from this regulation. "Only in a few cases was the labeling inadequate," says Rosenkranz, taking stock of the "SOKO Strawberry" missions.

Pay attention to the labeling when buying strawberries at stands. The origin of the fruit must be clearly visible on the packaging and on the label.

Susanne Rosenkranz, Konsumentenschutz-Landesrätin (FPÖ)

Seven million kilos of strawberries
Whether freshly picked, in an ice cream sundae, on a cake or enjoyed as jam - the sheer quantity of these sweet, red fruits shows just how popular they are in Austria: 7 million kilos of strawberries are harvested in Lower Austria every year. Since 2021, the berries have also been officially inspected for pesticide residues. With the exception of fruit of Hungarian and Polish origin, the limit values have not been exceeded since then. Rosenkranz summarizes: "The strawberry stands in Lower Austria are largely in order!"