The heightened monitoring of food and feed quality in our country has been prompted by the increasing frequency of notifications in European early warning systems, including the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF). In response to a question from Member of Parliament Lyuben Ivanov of "Democratic Bulgaria," Minister of Agriculture Plamen Abrovski emphasized during parliamentary control that the role of the government and the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) is to ensure health and the consumption of safe Bulgarian food. Our country is not among the most severely affected nations, and most of the alerts there primarily concern products of plant origin.
For the purpose of prevention, between June 10 and July 10, 2026, the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) carried out a large-scale unscheduled inspection of 69 shipments of raw materials, including raw milk, milk concentrates, UHT milk, and whey. No discrepancies for aflatoxin M1 were found during these analyses. However, market checks showed different results — out of 17 samples taken on June 29, 2026, including 14 pasteurized and 3 heat-treated milks from various brands and manufacturers produced from milk originating in Bulgaria, the European Union, and third countries, the results were within the standard limits. However, in an additional 8 randomly selected samples, three were found to contain levels of the toxin exceeding the permissible limits.
Responding to a report from a non-governmental organization, the BFSA immediately withdrew the dangerous batches of milk from stores. Thorough inspections were conducted at milk processing plants and source farms. In parallel, during daily monitoring at four sites — one milk processing facility and three livestock farms — elevated levels of aflatoxin M1 were detected. In these cases, a ban was imposed on the movement of animals and the sale of raw materials, and at one of the farms, the destruction of a batch of corn was ordered due to the presence of aflatoxin B1. Currently, no deviations have been reported in other enterprises during self-monitoring using rapid tests.
Experts increased the number of raw milk samples beyond the initially planned amount, given the scale of the regionalization and the non-compliant results. Data for the period from January 1 to August 31, 2026, show 9 identified discrepancies in feed testing, for which administrative sanctions have been applied. As of August 31, 2026, a total of 323 feed samples were analyzed for the presence of aflatoxin B1, with 183 of all 323 samples also analyzed for the content of other toxins, and over 140 of the analyses performed during the intensive period from July 13 to July 30.
During the parliamentary control, the epizootic situation was also discussed, specifically the spread of sheep and goat pox, following an inquiry by Aylin Pehlivanova from "We Continue the Change." Plamen Abrovski reported that biosecurity measures have produced results:
- The number of outbreaks has been reduced from about 200 last year to 32 this year.
- Vaccination is viewed as part of a comprehensive strategy rather than a "panacea."
- At this time, mass vaccination is not being implemented, but the government maintains readiness to include it in the prevention concept if necessary.
The minister concluded his statement with a firm assurance: "Bulgarian consumers should be reassured that no food that could in any way threaten their health reaches them. When such food, as you can see, is not allowed through and Bulgarian citizens are not disturbed, I believe we have all done our job."