No Shipment of Carcinogenic Wheat Has Entered Syria

DAMASCUS– The Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection strongly denied that any amount of wheat, that doesn’t meet approved criteria, has entered Syria via official crossing points.

Director of the General Establishment for Grain Trade and Manufacture Majed al-Hmaidan told SANA that the claims made by a Lebanese newspaper about shipments of wheat mixed with the carcinogenic Ochratoxin are completely untrue, SANA reported.

 Al-Hmaidan said that any wheat shipment that comes through land or marine crossing points is examined for radiation and diseases and verified to be suitable for human consumption by official laboratories, noting that this applies to wheat imported by both the public and private sectors, meaning that no shipment that fails to meet health criteria can enter the country.

He noted that whole shipments of wheat for both the public and private sectors have been denied entry to Syria before for reasons much less severe than ochratoxin contamination.