The ministry said that checks of the entire process of milk production had been increased, including analyses of fodder, raw milk, finished products and imported milk, in order to protect consumers and the domestic dairy industry in general.

Croatian milk is of top quality and meets the necessary health standards. Unfortunately, food safety incidents occur from time to time just as they do on all global markets, the ministry said.

Last week, Bosnia and Herzegovina banned the import of certain batches of pasteurised milk produced by Croatian companies Dukat and Vindija, claiming that some of the imported packages contained carcinogenic aflatoxins above the acceptable levels. The Croatian Veterinary Institute carried out tests and the samples with aflatoxins above the permitted level were sent to Vienna for additional testing.

The ministry's officials have explained that Croatia implements all EU regulations, including those about permitted concentrations of aflatoxins, which are more stringent than those, for instance, in Russia or the US, and that minimum increases in concentrations of those naturally occurring mycotoxins have no impact on human health.