It would interesting to hear who the offenders are, so that if they really are turning out crap products - then people wouldn't buy from them (if there was an alternative).

As to the food, if the food was bad or contaminated - where was the announcement to warn those in the general public that they might be endangered?

What happened to what was confiscated?

How is an invoice from a hospitality concern and consumer protection problem?

Can we get some more info here? Of is this the extent of the gov't press release?

Rolrox
Firstly- ÁNTSZ,the state food quality controller was made to disband by the EU under so called 'market self regulation'rules-hence all the surge in crap food now.
Secondly-many of these fines relate to false advertising,you know the Tesco bargain TV that they just happen to have run out of stock of.
Thirdly-They mean that customers are now been given receipt's in cafes and on the outdoor markets,thus creating a proof of purchase,as well as preventing tax avoidance (who knows how many kilo's of apples the trader sold ?)
and finally out of date,or miss identified (forgery) products are been removed from stores thus caught.

@Rolrox: You would have to wade through the details on the Országos Fogyasztóvédelmi Egyesület (The Consumer Protection Authority) website for the specific details. Complaints can be filed electronically via: http://www.ofe.hu/inet/ofe/hu/menu/online.html (only in Hungarian)

I find the complaints book (panasz könyv) or the threat of just asking for the complaints book in shops to be a pretty effective way to stop people being snotty, overcharging, complaining when I complain about their food etc...

There are officially two related organisations:
* General Inspectorate for Consumer Protection
* National Association for Consumer Protection in Hungary
That are responsible for these issue, I've never been sure exactly who does what, but only the latter's website ever seems to work properly.

Thank you both for the points.

I wonder though how much is being fined to justify this group's own existence ie to help fill the "funding gap."

In the US, there's an agency called the DEA (Drug Enforcement); when they first came into being they were crap at their job; but they mounted a media campaign, nabbing braggard (who thought it cool to pretend they were drug kingpins, like the "Black Tuna Gang"; as far as I know, these guys boasted really to pull women)... to my point, DEA nabbed people that weren't really doing crimes to create a sense that they were really doing their job - and so continue their funding...

If I'm stupid enough to believe Tescos has the discount tv once and then find its not there, you know what, I won't go again. And if they fine Tescos and I went before "hearing" about the fraud, who repays me for my wasted time and transit? Where to I sign up to collect me some of my piece of that bounty?

Rolrox
Correct,'once bitten twice shy' as the English say,but you can play the non-existant discount game many times with a population of 10 million,mostly poor and desperate for a bargain.
Naive they may be,but you must realise the situation of desperation these people often find themselves in.