Fruit

The Hellenic Food Authority (EFET) released a warning on Monday regarding apricot kernels and bitter almonds.

EFET advised adults to consume no more than two apricot kernels and bitter almonds daily, while suggesting that children and pregnant women refrain from their consumption altogether.

By Claudia Carpenter

Orange production in Greece is set to decline after damaging rain in May and June, while Italy’s output will also fall, according to the Foreign Agricultural Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

More than 5,000 Greeks have eaten over 2 tons of fruit and vegetables rejected by food stores in an event that highlighted the waste of food in advanced societies.

People lined up in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki on Sunday to eat briam, a medley of vegetables cooked in large casseroles, as well as crepes and fruit salads.

About 25 tons of peaches which had been sitting in refrigerators following a flurry of canceled orders by Russian importers have been distributed to the country’s correctional facilities, the Federation of Prison Workers (OSYE) said on Thursday.

In a statement, OSYE acknowledged the impact of Moscow’s food embargo on Greek farmers and thanked them for their gesture.

Greece has appealed to the European Commission for a revision of the method applied to calculate the distribution of national compensation amounts for European Union peach and nectarine farmers affected by the Russian trade embargo on numerous agricultural products produced in the bloc.

A total of 33 million euros has been allotted as compensation money for these producers.

Greece's peach and nectarine producers were on tenterhooks on Friday, awaiting the outcome of a summit of agricultural experts in Brussels which is expected to determine the size of the compensation they, and farmers in other EU member states, will receive for losses suffered due to the Russian food embargo.

At a loss about what to do with thousands of tons of produce that remains undelivered due to a Russian food embargo, Greek peach and nectarine producers must wait until Friday when European Commission officials are expected to draft a plan for compensating farmers producing those fruits in Greece and other EU countries hit by the ban.

The famous apricot rakia (brandy) from region around the town of Silistra, in north eastern Bulgaria, this year will be in short supply, reports the Darik national radio.

By Lina Giannarou

The price of fruits in Bulgaria could go up by 40% in July, as a result of the torrential rains and floods that hit much of the country, experts warn.

“It is natural for me to compensate my low yields with higher prices”, one fruit grower commented.

There is also lingering danger of crop diseases from the high moisture and floods.