Reports of poppy in chocolates rattle Egypt
Controversy has swept across Egypt after statements made by a former Egyptian official revealed that there are chocolates in the Egyptian market containing a small percentage of a narcotic substance.
CAIRO — Egyptian authorities are testing samples of a chocolate brand that has recently sparked controversy for allegedly containing the narcotic opium poppy.
The outcry erupted after Gaber Nassar, the former president of Cairo University, revealed that several people, including civil servants, had failed drug tests at their places of work after presumably consuming a type of chocolate that contains poppy.
Nassar did not mention the name of the chocolate, but it was later revealed that it was the Schogetten brand.
In a post, to which he attached a picture of the ingredients listed on the product cover (and which he subsequently edited), Nassar said, “Many complaints are being filed by individuals, including people who occupy high-ranking positions which require testing for drugs by the authorities. The results of the analysis have shown that the samples of these individuals are positive for the narcotic poppy, and this could expose them to penalties that could lead to their dismissal from work, even knowing that most of them do not even smoke cigarettes.”
