Bulgaria Seizes Over 260 Tons of Unsafe Food in Crackdown

Jerusalem, 9 April, 2026 (TPS-IL) -- Sofia (BTA) – Operation Clean Food shut 27 outlets and stopped more than 260 tons of potentially dangerous food, Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) Executive Director Angel Mavrovski said at a press conference on Thursday. Nearly 80% of the seized food, more than 208 tonnes, was products of animal origin carrying the highest health risk. Expired shelf life and unclear origin remained the main risks and called for the toughest sanctions.

Mavrovski said calls and alerts rose by more than 60% over the past month, mainly from Sofia and Sofia Region, though some also came from smaller places. Most alerts concerned food, but many were also about animal welfare and illegal activities involving animals. Mavrovski singled out Haskovo as a place with strong activity and a very large number of uncovered cases involving not only large warehouses but also small ones operating as contraband channels into Bulgaria. This pointed to a serious problem with smuggled food imports that distort the market and affect wholesalers, he added.

Caretaker Minister of Agriculture and Food Ivan Hristanov said the inspections numbered in the thousands and, in some specific cases, links had been found between closed outlets, violations and people with parliamentary immunity. One such case was in Montana, where a site was closed because of extremely poor hygiene. Another was in Vratsa, where nearly 190 kg of food of animal origin intended for kindergartens and nurseries was stopped. The products were seized after an inspection found serious breaches in transport, temperature control and traceability.

Mavrovski said the most shocking part was that children were involved. He said they had a meeting with the mayor of Vratsa on Tuesday to clarify the case fully, and planned a meeting with all mayors next week to make clear that they must oversee public procurement for children’s food.

This was no longer food sales but abuse, and abuse involving children, pupils, elderly people and vulnerable people, Hristanov said. He also recalled cases in Lesidren, Debelets and Svishtov. In Gabrovo, the case involved a large company that years ago was among the biggest suppliers under school programmes. Hygiene there was again disastrous, and all equipment should have been financed in 2024-2025 with BGN 2.5 million from State Fund Agriculture. Hristanov recalled that all these inspections had started with apples containing elevated pesticide levels in Haskovo.

Hristanov said, and Mavrovski confirmed, that pressure had been put on BFSA staff, including senior officials. This was becoming an everyday occurrence because some people had convinced themselves they could do whatever they wanted, including abuse involving food, Hristanov added.

He said the huge network exposed over the past month amounted to unfair competition and had a major effect on the economy. Hristanov said Bulgaria’s legitimate sector could finally get some relief from unfair competition. An illegal slaughterhouse was not just a gap in the competitive landscape, it was a gap in Bulgarians’ trust in their own state, he said.

Mavrovski said the current working model relied on cross-check inspections everywhere, which guaranteed full transparency and no outside influence on official controls.

He also mentioned inspections of livestock holdings, giving Kyustendil as an example, where they were working actively with the mayor and the regional governor. Findings so far showed a shocking number of virtual animals and refusals to allow inspections of livestock holdings.

“We have cases of 630 missing cattle from a livestock holding; another 150 missing animals were later found, as well as 800 sheep without ear tags,” Mavrovski said. He added that they planned to stop obstruction of inspections through legal means by restricting livestock owners who blocked checks from declaring pastureland and receiving the related support.

Mavrovski said the case in Debelets was one of the most shocking slaughterhouse cases so far. An illegal site was linked to a legal one, meaning animals from the illegal site had entered the legal one. This was not just a crime, it also showed a lack of veterinary control, he added.