The Bulgarian Food Safety Agency Denies that Meat with Antibiotics Reaches Consumers

Bulgarian meat is among the most contaminated with antibiotics in the EU according to the seventh annual report of the European Medicines Agency on the sale of antibiotics for animals in 30 European countries in 2015. According to the report in Bulgaria, 1 kg of live weight averages 121 milligrams antibiotic, making it the eighth highest European antibiotic rating.

After this news circulated around agencies yesterday, the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) did not comment but in the evening they came out with an official position that there is no excessive use of antibiotics in Bulgarian farms, that we do not provide prophylactic antibiotics to the animals, and that contaminated meat does not reach consumers at all. This position is understandable given that if the Bulgarian Food and Drug Administration acknowledges that Bulgarian meat is packed with medication there will be serious consequences for the agency itself, for the producers and hence for the market. There is a quarantine period for animal cleansing.

BFSA claims that European reports do not provide information on the actual use of antibiotics in animals, and the aim is to get an idea through the mathematical model of the quantities with which all animals can potentially be treated. The agency also explained that there is a statutory quarantine period after the use of antibiotics in which animals can not be slaughtered and products derived from them. The aim is to ensure that no residues of the medication used in food of animal origin are present. The animals must first be cleaned before the meat or their products are placed on the market. That's why the agency is monitoring every year and has only detected single deviations, says BFSA.

For three years, only four cases of pollution...