EGYPTIAN consumers have become in the past few years more and more like guinea pigs, and are exposed to all kinds of contaminated foodstuffs. Is it not enough that Egyptians are compelled to breathe polluted air, drink contaminated water, and eat vegetables irrigated with sewage? We can dare to say that the local market is full of adulterated items manufactured in unlicensed facilities, where standards and hygienic specifications are not duly observed. Consignments of the worst kinds of imported goods are allowed into the country under poor controls and at times corrupt deals. Recently thousands of tonnes of insectinfested wheat were used to bake bread, causing a row over health risks. A similar controversy is going on these days about meat imported from India that was contaminated with sarcocyst parasites. While the Chairman of the Veterinary Authority was reassuring the public that the parasites posed no harm, food and veterinary experts said that in cases of severe sarcocyst infection, livestock should be culled and should not be eaten. The parasites in the case can actually be seen with the naked eye, a matter so disgusting to potential buyers. The Government has opened the door for such meat imports in order to supply local needs in the face of the price increases of locally produced meat, which has now exceeded the means of average families. But that does not justify buying the worst kind of meat. The Egyptian consumers are, regrettably, the victims of poor governmental policies that give little heed to public health. The irony is that substantial amounts of money are being spent at the same time on treatment for millions of people that have fallen ill with all kinds of pollution-related diseases.
