BRATISLAVA, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Double standards of food quality concern up to one third of European Union countries now, Slovak Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Gabriela Matecna said here on Tuesday.
She made the remarks at a press briefing after a working group session on double quality standards representing nine EU countries.
"We can declare that the double quality of food standards now concern up to one third of European countries. Even Lithuanians have discovered that up to 70 percent of the food they tested is of a different quality in comparison with the same product in the Western Europe, with 50 percent of them finding significant differences. The double quality of food standards is a phenomenon we are trying to root out from the EU because we have one consumer, so we want one quality," stressed Matecna.
According to Matecna, the test results established that there is less meat and natural content and more artificial additives in the products of the same name supplied to new EU member states in almost all cases.
"Therefore, we will increase pressure exerted on both producers and European institutions to put a stop to such practices. These talks represent the formation of the Coalition Against Double Quality," said Matecna.
The working group meeting was attended by delegations from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria and Lithuania.
