Romania's Agriculture Minister: Traditional food 'mici' are safe, will gain EU regional food status

Romania's popular food mici have been saved, according to Agriculture Minister Daniel Constantin. Referring to the recent threat that the popular meat product and barbeque favorite would be banned under EU directives for food, the Agriculture Minister said that mici would gain traditional regional food status from the EU and thus avoid normal restrictions for ingredients. The new directives restrict the use of some additives that appear in typical recipes for mici, a sort of mini-pork burger, as of June 1. The Minister appeared confident that mici would make it onto the regional foods list and avoid the ban, although a final official decision on the fate of the mici is yet to be made. Constantin indicated that assuming mici are accepted, producers would need to go through a certification process of around three months duration. After that “I don't think there will be any problems,” said Constantin. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: sxc.hu)