It is a total waste to throw out more than 40% of the food suitable to be eaten, Minister of Agriculture and Food Dr. Miroslav Naydenov told a discussion.
He added that work is underway to alter the Foods Act, which will regulate and institutionalize the country’s food bank -- an organization that collects, receives, takes stock of, stores and distributes donated food in compliance with the food control and safety standards.
Naydenov noted that the Ministry if Agriculture and Food, and the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency are already making donations to the food bank. He advised that the Ministry of Finance offer tax breaks for food donations, adding that Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are the only EU countries to charge VAT on food donation.