Study: Dual food quality is an issue in the entire EU, not just in the East

The European Commission analysed 1,400 food samples in 19 EU countries.

The price of 400 food products has been capped by eight retailers.The price of 400 food products has been capped by eight retailers. (Source: Sme)

Central Europe has been vocal about the dual quality food standards within the EU single market for a few years now. The European Commission has recently published the results of the testing campaign in its study, which included 128 products from 19 countries.

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Read also: Slovaks keep eating lower-quality food Read more 

A third of the products analysed had different ingredients but were packed in identical or similar packages.

However, the study did not confirm the claim that dual quality food is a problem only in central and south-eastern EU member states.

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“I am happy that they found no evidence of an East-West divide in the ingredients of branded food products,” said Tibor Navracsics, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, as quoted in the EC's press release.

Navracsics is also responsible for the Joint Research Centre, which carried out the study between November and December 2018. Besides, the EU has introduced a common methodology for the testing of food products, which all national authorities can now use.

No geographical pattern

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