AGRICULTURE MINISTER TARGETS ROTTEN FOOD IN BULGARIAN BLACK SEA HOTELS
Over 300 hotels in Bulgarian Black Sea resorts have been fined over poor quality food offered as part of all-inclusive holiday deals, Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov announced Tuesday.
"They have failed to meet the requirements and have committed food quality violations. Full board per day at the cost of BGN 3-5 automatically rules out normal food. The products are of uncertified origin, with expired sell-by dates and have been stored at inappropriate temperature regimes. Much as Bulgaria would like to get rid of the image of a cheap tourist destination, this is impossible at such prices of full board", Naydenov commented in an interview for private TV channel bTV.
Commenting on accusations of Finance Minister and Deputy Minister Simeon Djankov that he "should work more and talk less", Naydenov said that ministers were to be graded by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who given him a very high mark in an interview for the same TV channel three weeks ago.
Later in the day, Naydenov gave a press conference during which he presented the results of an independent survey carried out at the request of the Active Consumers Association of the quality of yoghurt and other dairy products.
"Bulgarians really eat dairy products of high quality, including yoghurt, cheese, etc, which is very delightful", the Minister stated.
Naydenov boasted that the totally independent survey had confirmed the daily findings of Bulgaria's Food Safety Agency.
"As regards dairy products, things have changed dramatically since the introduction of the state standards, taking a turn for the better. The tests show that two years of work are yielding results." Naydenov declared.
According to the Active Consumers Association, the quality of dairy products is in line with Bulgarian state standards, with insignificant and very rare divergences from the norms.
The association has tested 19 brands of cheese, with independent laboratories confirming that the quality of cheese products has been improving over the past three years against a rising cost.
Out of a total of 16 brands of Bulgarian yoghurt tested, 6 have been found to meet Bulgarian state standards, and all of the samples have been proved to contain Lactobacillus Bulgaricu
