Bulgaria's consumer protection agency has fined three big supermarket chains a total of 95,000 euros for misleading shoppers, officials say.
The first chain advertised a discount on oil that was not actually on the shelves while the promotion ran. The agency, known as the KZP, found the chain had already been ordered to stop the same practice back in 2015. Because it happened again, the KZP hit it with the top fine the law allows for the offence.
The second chain ran a sugar promotion, but the sugar was not for sale during the campaign. The chain had also ignored a KZP order from 2016 over the same issue, so the agency again imposed the maximum fine.
The third chain labelled vegetables with the wrong country of origin, misleading shoppers about where the produce actually came from. The law sets the top possible fine for this, and that is what the KZP imposed.
KZP inspectors check what prices and sales practices stores actually use, and they also gather data on what suppliers charge the shops. The checks began on 2 October at supermarket chains in Sofia and across Bulgaria and are still going on.