The authority, which regulates food producers around the country, "had not established the necessary systems and plans to handle a national food contamination crisis," stated a report compiled in the wake of last winter's spread of the E.coli bacteria in Norwegian meat.
The report was compiled by certification and classification group Det Norske Veritas, at Mattilsynet’s own request.
Joakim Lystad, managing director of the food safety authority, said his agency was taking the report seriously and already had started revamping its organization.
Lystad told Aftenposten.no that Mattilsynet is a relatively new umbrella agency for what previously were 93 different food regulators around Norway.
He said his agency also had put too much priority on detection of animal diseases, instead of on meat products themselves.
The report also pointed out poor communication with external parties and a failure to evaluate other meat products in addition to the ground beef that initially came under suspicion.
Norway's meat contamination crisis was set off last winter after several children fell sick and suffered kidney failure after eating meat containing the E-coli bacteria. One child died, and meat producer Gilde ultimately offered compensation to the victims and their families.
