Bulgarian Food Safety Agency strictly controls use of antibiotics in stock-breeding
Sofia - The Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) takes all measures to ensure that food products on the market are safe for consumers. No antibiotic substances have been detected, the BFSA said in a press release on Tuesday.
Between January 1 and September 30, 2017, the BFSA tested 290 food samples and did not detect antibacterial (antibiotic) substances. Last year it tested 521 samples, of which 3 duck meat samples tested positive for tetracycline, and in 2015 it tested 532 samples, of which one bee honey sample tested positive for sulfathiazole. In these four cases, investigations were conducted and the relevant administrative measures were taken.
Annually, the BFSA develops a National Monitoring Programme for control of residual veterinary medicinal products and contaminants in food and animal products. The idea of the programme is to control the misuse of veterinary medicinal products, the BFSA said.
According to a recent report of the European Medicines Agency, Bulgarians eat meat laced with antibiotics and farmers feed medicines to animals "just in case". The report analyzed the sale of veterinary antibiotics in 30 European countries in 2015. Bulgarian farmers ranks 8th in levels of veterinary drugs use in animal husbandry, with 121 milligrams of antibiotics per kilo of live weight, as against 2 mg/kg in Norway, 5 mg/kg in Iceland and 12 mg/kg in Sweden. Drug use in Bulgaria has increased at an alarming rate, from 92 mg in 2011 to 116 mg in 2013 to 121 mg in 2015. However, Bulgaria is still significantly lower than the countries using the largest amounts of antibiotics: Cyprus 434 mg/kg, Spain 402 mg/kg and Italy 322 mg/kg. Tetracycline and macrolide antibiotics are the top two classes used in Bulgaria.
Source: BTA Daily News