The Standing Committee on the food chain and animal health (SCFCAH), presided by the European Commission, green lighted the use of sodium bicarbonate in the mix for Romanian popular minced meat dish called mici.

“Today’s vote shows that when there are arguments, when there is a good coordination between the industry and the authorities responsible at a national and European level, the results are positive," said the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dacian Cioloş after the vote on Monday, March 10.

"I am glad that the European Commission’s services, particularly the General Directorate for Health coordinated by my colleague Tonio Borg, treated carefully this problem so important for those back home, and that after the meeting on February 20, they mobilized very quickly to put back Romania’s request on the committee’s agenda."

He added that the recent decision not only allows Romania to keep preparing the mici following the traditional recipe, but to continue exporting them to the European Union as well.

Mici are one of the traditional products most loved by the Romanians. The local market amounted to some 22,000 tons of mici in 2012.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(photo source: sxc.hu)