“The investigation into the dual quality of foods will be extended to include 30-35 new products such as beers, soft drinks, ice creams, products used for grilling, sauces and salad dressings”, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Minister of State for Food Chain Supervision Róbert Zsigó announced on Hungarian M1 television’s Tuesday morning current affairs program.

During the course of the investigation it may transpire that in the case of these 30-35 products multinational companies are producing foods for the Hungarian market at a different level of quality, with different contents and using different ingredients than they do for the Western European market.

According to Mr. Zsigó, the solution to the issue is in the hands of the European Union, and the European Commission has the legal jurisdiction to take action against the phenomenon.

In addition, the problem of dual quality foods not only affects Hungary, but also exists on the Central and Eastern European market (Slovakia, Croatia), he added.

The Minister of State also told the press that a conference was being held on the issue in Prague on Tuesday, where amongst others representatives of the Visegrád Group (V4) countries will be briefing European Commissioners on the fact that the issue of the dual quality of foods does indeed exist on the European food market.

“The Government has developed draft legislation to provide a solution to the problem, according to which if a multinational company is distributing a product both in Hungary and Western Europe, but the two products differ in quality and/or content, then the company must make this clear to consumers on the product labelling”, Mr. Zsigó highlighted. “The European Union is currently still examining the proposed legislation”, he said.

(Ministry of Agriculture/MTI)