Scandal with Healthy Food: Moscow Government does not guarantee safety of vending machines - https://en.crimerussia.com/

At least 75 people got poisoned in Moscow with foods purchased in Healthy Food vending machines. Since July 10, 2019, persons employed in business centers started seeking medical aid because of poisoning – supposedly, with Healthy Food products, including tuna sandwiches. The victims were diagnosed with an acute enteric infection – salmonellosis. The company apologized to its partners for the “temporary inconveniences”, while business owners Dmitry Pronin and Nikolai Tsvetkov deny the guilt of Healthy Food in the mass poisoning – even though the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor) has identified serious violations in its production facility. The CrimeRussia reviewed the history of the Healthy Food brand, who had promoted it, and safety of products offered in its vending machines. It turned out that the Moscow Government – i.e. direct subordinates of Sergei Sobyanin – is the main lobbyist of the vending, while the demolition of sales kiosks and pavilions was directly linked with the development of the ‘robotic trade’.

Healthy Food is not vending?

Four days after the mass poisoning, the Administration for the City of Moscow of Rospotrebnadzor launched an epidemiological probe. It became known that vending machines installed at 20 locations in six administrative districts of Moscow were selling poisoned food.

A weird slogan: “You trust the product; we trust you”

However, the National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA) has noted that the above dispensers cannot be considered vending machines because they sell food products with limited shelf life – unlike the machines selling coffee, tea, drinks, and snacks.

“Based on our statistics, there were no poisoning incidents for a long time. The only such incident occurred five years ago. NAMA hasn’t determined yet whether Healthy Food dispensers are vending machines or not. Healthy Food sells sandwiches and salads with limited shelf life, while vending machines normally sell nonperishable products: snack, chocolate bars, and dry mix drinks,” – Galina Zamanova, Executive Director of NAMA, noted.

In the meantime, Rospotrebnadzor has carried out a large-scale inspection of the Healthy Food production facility located in the industrial zone of the Southeastern Administrative District of Moscow and identified numerous violations there.

Rospotrebnadzor reports...

After the inspection carried out on July 14, 2019, Rospotrebnadzor representatives said that the legal entities hadn’t notified the Administration for the City of Moscow of Rospotrebnadzor about the commencement of their business operations, including public catering and sales of food products.

“In the course of the epidemiological probe carried out in the production facility, numerous violations of sanitary–epidemiological requirements were identified in relation to the production of manufactured products intended for sale via vending machines of Do Luny I Obratno (To the Moon and Back) Limited Liability Company under the Healthy Food brand,” – the watchdog authority reported.

Rospotrebnadzor established that products sold through vending machines are of poor quality

“The sanitary–technical condition of production facilities is unsatisfactory. The stream-lining of production is not adhered to; the assortment of production facilities is not consistent with the production volume; raw materials and manufactured products are stored together; some refrigerating equipment is malfunctioning; the storage temperature requirements are not complied with. Task cards of the manufactured products were not presented. Both expired products and depersonalized raw materials are stored. Advance labeling is applied to a portion of the manufactured products; prolonged periods of validity are illegitimately applied to the products, including salads,” – the ‘verdict’ of Rospotrebnadzor states.

In fact, it does not matter whether Healthy Food dispensers are recognized vending machines or not. The Healthy Food production facility had operated without respective permits – i.e. illegally – and violated sanitary–epidemiological requirements. Cramped rooms with broken refrigerators, raw products stored together with finished one, noncompliance with basis hygienic regulations...

In the course of the probe, some three tons of depersonalized raw materials and finished products were seized. “Depersonalized raw materials” refers to products whose origin and expiry date are unknown.

Samples of raw materials and finished products and washings from the equipment were taken and submitted for forensic examinationto the laboratory of the Moscow Hygiene and Epidemiology Center Federal Budgetary Healthcare Institution.

On July 16, the production facility was sealed off; 48 Healthy Food vending machines and Healthy Food Cafe in Afimall City Trade Center located in the City of Capitals Tower on Presnenskaya quay were shut down. According to the available information, Healthy Food has more than 200 outlets, including some 20 cafes. It is unclear why some of its sales points remain open.

Healthy Food Cafe

Advertising is the engine of commerce

It is necessary to note that Healthy Food poses as “the first healthy food chain in Russia”. This sphere is in high demand in metropolises – people employed in numerous office centers prefer ‘healthy’ quick meals. In addition to the cafes, vending machines dubbed “healthy nutrition stations” operate in Moscow under the Healthy Food brand.

The official company’s web site states as follows: “we simply care about your health, especially when you are hungry”, “our menu is thoroughly planned and balanced”, “we use special technologies”, and “we cook according our own original recipes, manually, with care and love”.

Promising Healthy Food advertisement

Amid the verdict delivered by Rospotrebnadzor, all these advertising slogans seem ridiculous, especially “own original recipes” and “manual cooking”.

Putting blame on the supplier

After the incident, Healthy Food announced that the shipping of food products to vending machines has been put on hold. The explanation seems pretty plaintive.

“The current situation came as a surprise to us. We take our operations responsibly and care about our reputation. We decided to put the production on hold upon receiving the first information. We have immediately launched a large-scale inspection of the production facility and raw materials involving independent experts. Today, we received a notice from Rospotrebnadzor stating that products shipped by one of the suppliers do not meet the requirements. The supplier is carrying out a check”.

The key phrase here is: “we have immediately launched a large-scale inspection”. As it is known, first poisoned people were admitted to medical institutions on July 10. Rospotrebnadzor inspectors came to the production facility on the fourth day – at that time, it was clear that that the poisoning had a mass scope. What “ large-scale inspection involving independent experts” was launched by the company? What are its results? Rospotrebnadzor has identify plenty of severe violations, and allegedly poor quality of products shipped by one of the suppliers is nothing in comparison with them.

“We regret to inform you that a decision was made to temporarily stop loading the stations due to serious doubts in our regular suppliers. There are not many products at risk – but we decided to limit the loading until the expert assessment of the raw materials and suppliers to make sure that we don’t fail you and your personnel. The quality is affected by potentially rogue suppliers; therefore, we are currently minimizing this risk,” – the letter addressed to partners of Healthy Food states.

Apparently, the producer of ‘healthy foods’ is trying to put the blame on some “rogue supplier”. More than 70 persons got poisoned with tuna sandwiches – so, it is easy to figure out that the supplier of fish products is going to become the scapegoat. The cause of the disease may be in the tuna – but even the high-quality fish kept and processed in a dirty facility lacking refrigerators and under unsanitary conditions becomes a product not meeting the standards and quickly expires.

A number of media outlets had submitted official inquiries to the company – but no answers were received.

Forgive and forget?

Dmitry Pronin, founder and manager of Healthy Food was likely unaware of the statement issued by his press service: on July 16, he said in an interview to OpenMedia.io portal that “there are no facts linking our products with the poisoning”.

On July 20, Dmitry Pronin had still denied that people were poisoned by products sold by his company.

Owner of Healthy Food does not admit the guilt of his company

“People eat every day 4–6 times in various places; food poisonings occur every day. Today, I cannot assume the responsibility and say that the cause of the poisonings is in my company. I also cannot state otherwise; this is within by business risk zone. We are waiting for results,” – he said to journalists.

Concurrently, Dmitry Pronin told Meduza.io portal that he had received calls from people poisoned with Healthy Food products for an entire week. “As the company owner, I feel responsibility for the health of those buying our products,” – he said. But during that week, he had stated that “there are no facts linking our products with the poisoning”.

“The mast is broken, the ship sustained underwater damage, but the entire crew is pumping out the water. We hope for the best, but are preparing for the worst,” – the head of the company noted.

Interestingly, according to Dmitry Pronin, the Rospotrebnadzor inspectors had arrived at the production facility exactly during an inventory. Allegedly, the expired products were prepared for disposal – not for cooking ‘healthy foods’. It was just a coincidence that should be forgiven and forgotten.

Dmitry Pronin is trying to get off the hook by all means

Bank UralSib and ‘healthy foods’

44-year-old Dmitry Pronin has graduated from Bauman Moscow State Technical University with a major in “optical and electronic instrument engineering”. Being a student, he started working in NIKoil Financial Corporation that became UralSib Financial Corporation in 2005. For ten years, Pronin had supervised development projects of this bank. In 2008, he quit UralSib and decided to create a healthy food cafe together with his partner Maria Kolosova, owner of Stimul Consulting Company rendering consulting services to UralSib. To save money on the kitchen rental, they purchased an additional stove and two refrigerators and started cooking foods in the Moscow apartment of Kolosova.

Business coach Maria Kolosova was one of the creators of Healthy Food

In 2009, Dmitry Pronin launched his first cafes in Moscow – in business centers Krylatskie Kholmy and Paveletskaya Plaza. Then vending display windows–refrigerators were launched. In 2015, Maria Kolosova has withdrawn from their joint business – and Pronin continued its development on the basis of training programs delivered in Skolkovo Business School. As a result, Healthy Food came to dozens of Moscow offices, including Rusnano, Hewlett Packard, CROC, SAP, etc.

Little pot cooks to the Moon and back

Healthy Food vending machines belong to Do Luny I Obratno (To the Moon and Back) Limited Liability Company, while Healthy Food Cafes – to Gorshochek, Vari! (Little Pot, Cook!) Limited Liability Company. 30% of shares in Do Luny I Obratno belong to Anton Mordvintsev, founder of InPlat payment system; Dmitry Pronin met him while studying at Skolkovo Business School.

Similarly with Pronin, Anzhelika Dremova, General Director of Do Luny I Obratno Limited Liability Company, is an alumnus of UralSib – she was a deputy head of a bank’s territorial directorate. Cofounder Mar’yana Dosymbekova reportedly has no ties with UralSib.

FoodExpert Limited Liability Company has the same founders; Dmitry Pronin is the general director of this low-rating organization.

In 2017, Nikolai Tsvetkov, founder of UralSib Financial Corporation, became the owner of 54% of shares in Gorshochek, Vari! Limited Liability Company; Pronin had worked in that bank in the early 2000s. Currently, Nikolai Tsvetkov is a minority shareholder of Bank UralSib undergoing the resolution procedure.

Interestingly, the legal address of Gorshochek, Vari! Limited Liability Company is plot 15, Krasnokazarmennaya street, Southeastern Administrative District, Moscow. The production facility of Healthy Food is located in this industrial zone, too – not far from Khlebozavod № 1 (Bread Factory № 1) Closed Joint Stock Company.

Being in the midst of the scandal, Dmitry Pronin makes no comments on his ties with banker Nikolai Tsvetkov – although it is clear that they are business partners. Furthermore, Nikolai Tsvetkov told Forbes that he has nothing to do with the vending business.

“I am involved with the cafe chain as a passive investor. I do not participate in projects run by Do Luny I Obratno. They are funded by other investors,” – Tsvetkov said. Apparently, he does not realize that the vending machine may have different investors – but they have the same kitchen. People got poisoned with products purchased at vending machines – but this does not mean that foods served in Healthy Food Cafes are healthy and safe.

Co-investor Nikolai Tsvetkov denies any ties with Healthy Food vending machines

Nikolai Tsvetkov actively promotes the healthy lifestyle. In addition, the banker is obsessed with esoterics – he had introduced in UralSib ontology, numerology, mysterious Sun Light doctrine, and even visited shamans in the Republic of Khakassia. In 2015, Forbes had estimated his wealth at $1.25 billion. In subsequent years, Tsvetkov was not listed among the richest Russian businessmen – concurrently, the capitalization of UralSib had steadily decreased, which raises some flags. Currently, the bank is undergoing the resolution procedure.

Dmitry Pronin, who had started his ‘cooking career’ in the kitchen of his partner, admits that he may lose the business because of the recent incident. He neither confirms nor refutes the version explaining it by intrigues of competitors – and insists that he has no competitors in this sphere. But even if they had appeared, Pronin has no idea who could cross his path.

Moscow Government lobbies vending

No one can predict the output of the story with dangerous foods sold as healthy ones. The numerous violations identified by Rospotrebnadzor will inevitably cause severe consequences for Healthy Food. The most outrageous is that, according to Rospotrebnadzor, Healthy Food had operated in the glamorous catering sphere in Moscow for years without notifying the watchdog authority. It is logical to assume that this business was ‘authorized’ by somebody else interested in its development and sales of low-quality foods produced in a dirty facility.

This assumption was confirmed soon: the story with mass poisoning has a direct relationship to the Mayor’s Office. It became known that Aleksei Nemeryuk, Head of the Trade and Service Department of the Moscow Government, is the main lobbyist of the vending; he actively supports companies installing such machines and does not make a secret of this.

Aleksei Nemeryuk, Head of the Trade and Service Department of the Moscow Government, is a lobbyist of vending machines

Moscow residents remember the mass demolition of sales kiosks and pavilions located in popular places back in 2016. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has personally announced this initiative and frequently visited the demolition sites accompanied by journalists.

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and kiosks ‘condemned’ to demolition

Later, it turned out that this operation had some ‘sacral’ significance: vending machines were installed instead of food kiosks. The question is: doesn’t the development of vending contradict the struggle against non-stationery trade waged by the Moscow Government?

It is known that Vse Sam (Everything by Myself) Limited Liability Company has installed first vending machines with “goods of prime necessity” by way of experiment. The machines were far from perfection: they could neither print receipts nor accept bank cards – not to mention sanitary and safety standards.

Vse Sam vending machines installed by the Mayor’s Office

But Aleksei Nemeryuk announced this experiment a success and said that “vending machines may replace food kiosks for city dwellers”. In fact, this was the main reason behind the demolition of retail outlets. The has even identified more than 1000 locations for vending machines on the streets of Moscow (this number does not include underground passages and subway stations).

Interestingly, the primary specialization of Vse Sam Limited Liability Company founded in 2014 is “retail trade outside shops, kiosks, and markets”.

The Trade and Service Department of the Moscow Government grants this company a number of preferences in governmental acquisitions and contracts. According to the available information, Vse Sam normally wins tenders on a sole source basis. At some point, five companies, who had submitted tender applications but were not allowed to participate in it, have complained to the Federal Antimonopoly Service – but withdrew their claims shortly after that: it was simply impossible to struggle against the Mayor’s Office lobbying its interests in the vending sphere.

In the meantime, the Moscow Health Department states that the condition of the people poisoned with foods purchased in Healthy Food vending machines won’t deteriorate. Sergei Sobyanin and his subordinates are not interested in the escalation of the ‘vending panic’ because the scandal with Healthy Food has undermined the positions of the vending business in general. According to the media, the revenues generated by such machines have significantly decreased in the last month. Furthermore, not all subway stations and underground passages are equipped with this ‘convenient and practical innovation’.

“Vending machines are convenient for subway passengers who may buy there snacks, water, hot and cold drinks, ice cream, non-medicinal pharmacy products, and accessories,” – this is how Maksim Liksutov, Deputy Mayor of Moscow and Head of the Department of Transport and Development of the Road and Transport Infrastructure, advertises this way of trading.

Deputy Mayor Maksim Liksutov is an active lobbyist of vending machines

However, there is no doubt that customers – i.e. all of us – must be extremely cautious when buying ‘healthy foods’ or other products from the ‘sales robots’ – because nobody in the city is responsible for their quality, and every buyer may become a patient of the infectious diseases hospital any time.

 

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