CAIRO - The mere thought of having eaten bread made of very poor quality wheat infested with mites and crawling worms must have been sickening for thousands of citizens in the Delta governorate of Kafr el-Sheikh. Last November, the health affairs department of the governorate received several reports regarding the storage of 2,600 tonnes of adulterated wheat in the silos of the state-owned graineries of Kafr el-Sheikh. In the light of a decision by the prosecution, the wheat was seized and put under police guard until the central laboratories of the Health Ministry gave their final say. Accordingly, l4 samples were sent to the central laboratories in Cairo for analysis. In the meanwhile, the General Prosecution had formed a committee of the agricultural research department to examine the wheat. The committee members were of the opinion that the wheat could be subjected to several treatment processes before being ground and turned into subsidised wheat. Baladi bread (like pitta rounds) made of wheat flour and bran is one of the major foodstuffs subsidised by the State, so as to be affordable for millions of Egyptians, since bread is an indispensable item on the tables of both the rich and poor in this country. Experts say that Egypt relies on foreign supplies of wheat to meet about half of its requirements making it the world's largest wheat importer. However, the committee's recommendation was taken into effect without waiting for the laboratory results, according to Al-Ahram Arabic newspaper. The flour produced was used in baking 26 million rounds of baladi bread, which were consumed in some 45 days, sources at the Ministry of Supply said. The surprise, which perplexed the governorate consumers, is that the analysed samples proved that the entire quantity of used wheat did not conform to standard specifications. According to the final laboratory report, the wheat included mites and worms and contained quantities of defective grains, non-organic substances and poisonous seeds that exceeded internationally allowed rates. The report unequivocally stated that the wheat was unfit for human consumption. But that was too late because the bread made from the wheat had already been devoured. The governorate prosecutors are currently investigating the matter after receiving complaints against the committee that gave the green light for using the wheat.
