BEIRUT: All wheat import samples tested by Lebanon's public prosecutor met required standards except one that contained a higher-than-permitted level of the carcinogen ochratoxin, the government said on Monday.
The public prosecutor's office conducted the tests on an unspecified number of samples from the port of Beirut after Ministry of Public Health checks in March found a contaminated batch of wheat.
Those tests prompted disagreement with the Economy Ministry, which said it had found no problems with imported wheat, and the issue was referred to the public prosecutor.
"The tests showed the samples conform to specifications and also showed one non-conforming sample which contained a high concentration of the carcinogenic substance ochratoxin which exceeded the allowable level," the ministries of health, economy and agriculture said in a joint statement.
The non-conforming sample was the same one reported by the Public Health Ministry earlier in the year, the statement said.
The contaminated sample was initially thought by the Public Health Ministry to have originated in Russia, but the minister later said the wheat's origin had been misidentified.
The samples tested by the public prosecutor were taken from the port at an unspecified time.
The statement also said a joint committee of the three ministries had been looking into how better to manage wheat imports and would announce its results next week.
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