The European Commission approved the addition of the "Bulgarian white brine cheese" to the list of protected geographical indications of the EU. With today's decision, this traditional Bulgarian product enters the list of 1,646 already protected agricultural products. This quality scheme applies to foods and wines whose origin is linked to a specific place of production.

"Bulgarian white brine cheese" is a fermented milk product produced from full-fat cow, sheep, goat, buffalo or mixed milk with the addition of leavens containing Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis and Lactobacillus casei, as well as symbiotic leavens from the bacteria Lactoba-cillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus, obtained by curdling with cheese yeast, undergone the necessary treatment, aged in brine and intended for consumption.

Last week, the "Bulgarian yogurt" was included in the list of products with a protected designation of origin.

In 2021, Bulgaria sent applications for the entry of "Bulgarian yogurt" and "Bulgarian white brine cheese" as Protected Designations of Origin (PDO) in the European Register of Protected Designations of Origin and Protected Geographical Indications of Agricultural Products and Food. They were submitted by the association "Bulgarian Traditional Dairy Products".

The EU Protected Designation of Origin scheme prevents counterfeiting of products on the European market and enables producers to sell their products better.

In order to award it, the European Commission requires every part of the production, processing and preparation process to be carried out in the specific geographical region. Foods included in the scheme are entitled to a special label indicating their belonging to the quality scheme.

Bulgaria has already protected under the European quality schemes the rose oil, the Strandzha manna honey, the Gorna Oryahovica sujuk, as well as 12 grape brandies (rakia) and 54 wines. Submitted for consideration by the European Commission are two more grape brandies, one wine and the Strandzha herbal tea.

The list of all protected geographical indications can be found in the eAmbrosia database. More information is available online at Quality Schemes and on the GIView portal.

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