Bulgaria Pushes EU Over Food 'Double Standards'

Bulgarian NGOs and the country's Ombudman petitioned the European Parliament on Monday over the issue of the EU's "double standards" in food, calling for the establishment of either a centralized European body or a network of national control bodies to monitor the quality of foods and beverages sold in the EU.

They believe the existence of lower food standards in eastern regions of Europe reflects a disloyal business practice on the part of companies that "misleads and discriminates" [against] consumers.

"The problem concerns not only the dignity of Bulgarians and Eastern Europeans, but also their budgets [because] lower quality does not necessarily mean a lower price," Bulgaria's Ombudsman, Maya Manolova, told journalists.

She noted a survey by her office in September, which found out that five food products and beverages of the same name, mostly targeting children, not only had lower quality ingredients in Bulgaria but also cost more in Sofia than in Berlin or Vienna.

Following a wave of complaints in the so-called Visegrad countries - Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia - Bulgaria's food safety agency in June analysed 31 foods and beverages made by the same international brands and sold in Bulgaria and other Western European countries.

It found differences in the ingredients in a variety of these products, including soft drinks and fruit juices, baby foods, dairy products, chocolate sweets, and others.

Romania has also joined other Eastern European member states in campaigning against this "double standards" in food and drink sold in the EU.

"We are facing the threat of 'two-standard Europe', added to the already existing 'two-speed Europe,'" the Bulgarian petition to the European Parliament says.

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