Meat industry

New rules on foodstuffs are being developed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nova TV reported. The goal is to avoid the double standard. The draft provisions provide for the exact meat content of sausages to be described. Wieners, for example, must have at least 50% meat. Similar will be the requirements for kielabasi and other types of sausages.

Last year 21.1 percent of Greeks - or more than one in five - were unable to cover their basic needs, such as the timely payment of utility bills and regular consumption of meat, according to Eurostat.

The Bulgarian division of the German company Lidl introduces new higher standards for the quality of the sausage from their own brand that they offer. All sausages from the Pikok, Baroni and Dulano brands, as well as from the "Rodna Stryha" product line, are now produced without the use of mechanically separated meat, which reduces the use of improvers and thickeners, the company said.

In the western province of Muğla's Bodrum's district, a stray cat, which was claimed to have stolen sausage from a grocery store chain, was put in a cage by the store's officials. 

The government will “distribute 300 sheep to every farmer” in Turkey who wants it in a bid to revive the livestock sector, to encourage farmers not to move to urban areas, and to ease high meat prices, Agriculture and Livestock Minister Ahmet Eşref Fakıbaba has stated.

Turkey will in the future cease to be a meat-importing country, Food, Agriculture and Livestock Minister Ahmet Eşref Fakıbaba said on Jan. 12, amid recent controversy over Turkey’s struggling livestock sector and rising imports of meat.

Livestock will also be eligible to benefit from the Turkish government’s “family practice” system, Food, Agriculture and Livestock Ahmet Eşref Fakıbaba stated on Dec. 19.

Turkey’s top farming organization has warned of an ongoing decline in red meat production, a key factor in surging prices, and called for urgent measures to prop up production including cash incentives for cattle breeding.

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.

Bulgarian meat is one of the most contaminated with antibiotics in the EU. This shows the seventh annual report of the European Medicines Agency quoted by the Sega newspaper.