What do we read on the label of New Zealand lamb? Bogomil Nikolov to FAKTI

What lamb will we eat for Easter and how to navigate what is written on the label… Bogomil Nikolov from the association “Active consumers“ speaks to FAKTI.

- Mr. Nikolov, always before Easter the topic of what price we will buy lamb meat at, what meat we will see in stores and how much it will cost becomes relevant. How can people navigate in the store?
- Look, if you expect to hear as advice look at this, touch that and that's it - it can't be done. Our senses are not enough to determine what is what by looking at it. We just have to trust the system. There are enough rules in the country that guarantee us what we will eat, but with the condition that they must be followed. I give an example of the debate that has arisen in recent days about importing frozen lamb from New Zealand. If the European Union regulations are strictly implemented, we should not have a problem. Respectively, and to have this conversation. The question is whether we can trust that the rules are being followed. As has become clear in recent days, the main question that remains is when this lamb was frozen. Why? Because this is not reflected on the label.

- This is exactly what I wanted to comment on specifically. What does frozen, thawed mean and how is this marked on the label?
- The date of production, according to the explanations of the Food Agency, is the date of defrosting and packaging, when the meat was received frozen in a given place. On the label we see the date when it was packaged, it most often coincides with the time when it was thawed, because it is immediately packaged. According to the European regulation, when the meat is thawed, it must be marked on the label and the date of freezing. And on the label, usually, only the date of thawing is visible, which is also indicated as the date of production. According to the rules, the control authorities have full access to the traceability chain, so that they can always register who sold what, what imported and so on, in order to get to the full origin and the farm. There is no way to hide this through documentation. The question is why the date of freezing is not marked on this meat, which was imported and thawed. And is this, respectively, a violation... According to our interpretation of the regulation - by the association "Active Consumers", it is a violation. According to the BFSA, it is not. According to them, there is no problem with not seeing the date of freezing. For consumers, it would certainly be more correct to have the freezing date and the thawing date on the label. This has its own logic, because the consumer needs this freezing date. If someone has kept a piece of meat in storage for 5 years and has now decided to release it into the retail network, we only see the thawing date. However, if the consumer has two dates, at least he will be better informed and will already make a choice whether to buy it or not. If the meat is already spoiled, this will be known. So the question surrounding this import is this. Yes, otherwise the meat will most likely be suitable, but this unpleasant feeling of manipulation and that we have not been provided with complete information remains.

- Do you have any statistics on how often and in what quantities we import meat from New Zealand?
- I don't have any. Every year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food publishes an agri-food report and this information may be there, but I don't have it.

- Lamb from Macedonia, from Romania... Is it of better quality and at a better price?
- What we know is that there is import and there is nothing wrong with that. Especially given that we don't produce enough. I would not participate in this debate - which is of better quality, better. Let the consumers decide. But there is nothing better for the consumer than having a choice. If you want Bulgarian, Macedonian, Romanian, Greek... Let people decide.

- Another interesting question was raised, because kozunak appeared in the chains, which costs 1 lev for 400 grams... Is this kozunak?
- I believe that everyone can answer this question if they read the label. I will tell you that it is not possible to put 6 eggs, as in the recipe for 1 kilogram of kozunak, and it costs 1 lev for 400 grams. It simply cannot be done if all the ingredients are observed. When you see such a low price, it can be due to two things - for example, the expiration date is expiring and the product is released at a low price so that it can be sold and not thrown away, and the second reason is that it is made from cheap ingredients. Which is apparently the case now. In industrial production, when some additives are used, the price can be lowered. So is this product already kozunak? It is simply that in terms of nutritional value it cannot come close to real kozunak.