Attention! Romanian Lamb Floods The Market For Easter

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

Less than a month remains until the day on which Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter. Traditionally, on this day at each table there are beautifully painted eggs, lettuce and deliciously cooked lamb.

This year, the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) will pay special attention to what is offered in slaughterhouses and butcher shops. Lamb meat. Intensified inspections are envisaged in food warehouses, retail outlets and catering establishments.

BFSA experts will closely monitor the origin, quality and storage of what is offered by the stores Lamb meat. The expectations of the BFSA employees and the Bulgarian livestock breeders and meat producers are that cheap Romanian Lamb meat will flood the domestic market.

Every year between 100,000 and 200,000 lambs are imported from Romania. Our northern neighbor does not supply large quantities of live lambs at competitive prices, which are slaughtered on Bulgarian territory and are presented for domestic production.

According to the Association of Livestock Breeders, the reason for the competitive prices of Romanian meat producers is the paid European subsidies and aid for cattle breeding. Similar subsidies in the amount of 14 euros for raising animals are also paid to Bulgarian farmers, but their payment in Bulgaria is delayed.

This is the reason why the Romanian producers undercut the prices of the Bulgarian ones by offering lambs at a price of about BGN 3 live weight. Regardless of the origin of the lamb, the industry expects its price to exceed BGN 14 just before Easter.

If you have decided to pamper your loved ones with a whole lamb for the Easter table, you will have to prepare at least 140 - 150 BGN. Traders advise citizens who have the opportunity to buy the dream delicacy at least a few days in advance, because around the holidays.

Lamb lovers should be especially careful just before Easter, because during the holidays traders, in their desire for quick profit, tend to buy meat from dubious processing plants.

Inspectors from the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency advise citizens not to buy lamb from dubious shops or workshops that do not meet basic hygiene requirements. Guarantee of the origin of the meat can only be the seal that the veterinarian has put.

Head of the Food Control Directorate at the BFSA, Dr. Raina Ivanova assures the citizens that: “All types of food will be checked, special attention will be paid to the typical Easter and St. George's Day foods. These are eggs, egg paints, Easter cakes and lamb. According to Dr. Ivanova, the markings of the eggs, the veterinary seal of the meat and the labels on the packages will be strictly monitored.