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Bulgaria: for restaurants and takeaways

Ready for the food inspection. Every day.

In Bulgaria the app follows the EU hygiene rules, the Food Act and its ordinances; the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) inspects, and only −18°C for frozen food is a fixed number in law.

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The Chef Hygiene app on a computer: the home screen of a kitchen with its daily checksThe Chef Hygiene app on a phone: the home screen of a kitchen with its daily checks

Bulgaria: food hygiene rules

Inspection body
Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (Българска агенция по безопасност на храните, BFSA / БАБХ)
Public rating
No
Languages in the app
Български, English

Your inspection

BFSA (БАБХ) does the official food control through its 28 regional food-safety directorates (ОДБХ), one per province. Regional health inspectorates check staff health books. The consumer protection commission (КЗП) checks restaurant star categories.

After a check the inspector writes a prescription (предписание) with a deadline, or a fine report. The control body can suspend a site, and can deregister it for gross or repeated breaches. Under the Food Act (art. 128 to 137) a business can be fined BGN 4,000 to 6,000 (about EUR 2,045 to 3,068) for breaches such as no HACCP-based procedures or allergen and traceability failures.

Hygiene rating

There is no national hygiene rating, sticker or duty to display a result. The tourism star categories for restaurants are not a hygiene rating.

“Law” is a binding rule. “Official guidance” is not law, but inspectors expect it. “Chef Hygiene default” is a value the app checks against where no rule gives a number.

Temperatures

  • LawFrozen food: −18°C in all parts. Short rises of up to 3°C are allowed only in transport and shop display (quick-frozen food ordinance, art. 5).
  • Official guidanceFridge: BFSA advises 0 to 4°C for fresh and chilled meat, fish, dairy and offal. The label’s own temperature wins. This is advice, not a legal limit.
  • Chef Hygiene defaultBulgaria has no legal or official number for cooking. Chef Hygiene checks against its own default: 75°C in the core.
  • Chef Hygiene defaultBulgaria has no number for hot holding. Chef Hygiene checks against its own default: 63°C or hotter.
  • Chef Hygiene defaultBulgaria has no number for cooling. EU law says to cool as quickly as possible. Chef Hygiene checks against its own default: from 60°C to 10°C within 2 hours.
  • Chef Hygiene defaultBulgaria has no number for reheating. Chef Hygiene checks against its own default: 75°C.
  • Official guidanceAt delivery, chilled food should be 4°C or colder (BFSA’s advice) and frozen food −18°C, with up to 3°C more allowed in transport.

Staff, training and health

  • LawEvery worker needs a personal health book (лична здравна книжка), kept at the site and shown to inspectors (Ordinance 15/2006, art. 2).
  • LawBefore starting, the worker has a doctor’s exam, worm and protozoa tests, a TB skin test and carrier tests. Every year the skin exam, worm tests and carrier tests are repeated (Ordinance 15/2006, art. 3 to 5).
  • LawWorkers with an acute infection, diarrhoea, purulent skin disease or similar must tell the manager at once and are removed from work. They return only with the doctor’s entry “допуска се на работа” in the book (Ordinance 15/2006, art. 7 to 9).
  • LawBulgaria has no national hygiene certificate, course hours or renewal. The EU rule still applies: staff must be instructed and trained for their work (Regulation 852/2004).

Allergens

  • LawFor food that is not prepacked, guests get the allergens from the 14 EU allergens, the dish name, the date and the operator’s name and address. In a restaurant this is given on the customer’s request (Ordinance on food information, art. 5 and 6).
  • LawFor delivered food, the information is given when the customer receives it. It must be in Bulgarian.
  • LawA breach is fined under the Food Act, art. 131.

Fire safety checks

  • LawThe owner or the fire-safety person checks each fire extinguisher at intervals of at most 30 days (Ordinance 8121з-647/2014, art. 21). Servicing and pressure tests follow the maker’s rules.
  • LawKitchen extraction ducts, shafts, chimneys and flues are cleaned at the start of the heating season and when needed. Grease filters are cleaned when needed. Write a protocol each time (Ordinance 8121з-647/2014, art. 38).
  • LawLPG installations: an inspection by a supervision body every year, joints leak-checked every 3 months, and a signed staff gas-safety briefing every year (Ordinance PMS 243/2004).
  • LawNatural gas: installations are checked every 12 months and gas appliances every 2 years (Ordinance PMS 171/2004).
  • LawEarthing resistance is measured at intervals of at most 1 year (Ordinance 16-116/2008).

Records

  • LawHACCP-based permanent procedures are required (Food Act art. 8 and 10; EU Regulation 852/2004).
  • LawKeep technological documentation for each food you make, and traceability records for what you buy and sell (Ordinance 14/2021, art. 16; Regulation 178/2002).
  • LawKeep the pest-control firm’s protocols. The firm keeps its biocide log for 3 years (Ordinance 1/2018).

Official sources

Checked

This page is general information, not legal advice. Check with your local authority.

Bulgaria: the Chef Hygiene app

The app loads these rules for your kitchen, checks your records against them and keeps proof for the inspector.

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