Tainted Russian wheat resurfaces in Egypt
The dangerously low-quality wheat imported from Russia that plagued Egypt during the Mubarak era has returned to the country, which recently identified 25,000 tons destined for Egyptian bread.
CAIRO — The Russian wheat crisis resurfaced in Egypt on April 1, when 25,000 tons of it were discovered en route to being used in government-subsidized bread production.
The tainted wheat — which contains toxic and cancerous elements and dead insects and cannot be consumed — was among the most dangerous issues that raised the ire of the Egyptian street under the regime of President Hosni Mubarak. Its wide distribution to mills and bakeries was discovered in 2009.
Egypt is one of the largest wheat importers in the world, taking in between 7.3 and 8.2 million tons annually from Russia, the United States, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
Cairo is currently facing a crisis threatening to increase its wheat bill in the wake of restrictions imposed in February by Russia, the fourth largest wheat exporter in the world, on its wheat exports in accordance with rising domestic prices. Meanwhile, Moscow is facing a financial crisis linked to the decline in oil prices and to Western sanctions.
