Does wheat imported from Ukraine to Bulgaria contain high levels of heavy metals making it unsuitable for consumption? No, that's not true: According to the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA), Ukrainian grain imports are subject to stricter control measures and additional checks which have shown they do not contain heavy metals or radiation.
The claim appeared in a video on TikTok (archived here) published by @deqnaivanova1 on September 18, 2023, with a caption translated into English from Bulgarian by Lead Stories staff reading:
Today, the lackeys admitted that Ukrainian wheat contains heavy metals! And you see, it would only be used for fodder. Idiots! We consume eggs, milk, and meat! Farmers should come out to protest!
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon Sep 25 05:23:10 2023 UTC)
Mariana Kukusheva, Chair of the National Union of Bakers and Confectioners for Bulgaria claimed during an interview on NOVA TV on September 17, that wheat imported from Ukraine was lower quality, calling it "forage wheat with no baking qualities," and saying it should be used for cattle feed and not for bread and pastries production. She added that the grain contained heavy metals.
The following day, the BFSA's animal feed director, Dr. Ivan Genchev denied the claim that Ukrainian grain contained heavy metals, saying that all shipments were tested for various criteria, including heavy metals and test results were negative for contamination.
The deputy executive director of the control agency BFSA, Dr. Galya Vikiova, added that for the period from October 1, 2022, to May 2023, a total of 575 samples of Ukrainian grain imports were measured and that no deviations were found to indicate heavy metal contamination.
Another director of the BFSA, Dr. Tatyana Nikolova confirmed during an interview that none of the samples contained heavy metals or radiation and that stricter control measures have been introduced, with additional checks being carried out on grain arriving from Ukraine.
Lead Stories has previously debunked a similar claim about the quality of Ukrainian wheat imported to Bulgaria, as seen here.
