Friday, Jan 07, 2011
Gulf News
Over 77% of samples contained harmful additives to increase appeal
Manama Qatar’s authorities have urged the recall of all stocks of saffron and raisin from the local market after laboratory tests confirmed the presence of harmful substances and additives in most samples of the products.
“Laboratory tests conducted on samples of the two food products have shown that they didn’t comply with the GCC standards and specifications,” Dr Mohammad Al Thani, director of the Public Health Department at the Supreme Council of Health (SCH), said, quoted by Qatar daily The Peninsula yesterday.
More than 77 per cent of the samples of saffron were found to contain harmful colours, creams and paints — added to increase brightness to the product. These samples did not comply with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) specifications No: GSO/3632-1/20007.
Laboratory tests also proved that 80.50 per cent of the samples of raisin contained some hydro-carbonic substances that are added to give more polish and freshness to the product. They failed to comply with the GCC specifications No: GSO/1034/2000, the authorities said.
All the customs posts have been alerted to intensify monitoring on the new shipments of raisin and saffron and not to release any consignments before conducting laboratory tests on the samples. Saffron is an expensive spice that is used to add colour and fragrance to dishes, while raisin is commonly consumed as a dry fruit.
The decision to recall the products was taken jointly by the SCH, the Consumer Protection Department at the Ministry of Business and Trade and the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning.
Qatar
By Habib Toumi?Bahrain Bureau Chief
Gulf News 2011. All rights reserved.
