IRAQ: Low-quality food rations pose health risks, officials concede

Following complaints over the quality of state-distributed food rations, the Ministry of Trade plans to boost quality controls and acquire food items from alternate sources, say officials. The decision to boost the quality of state food rations was taken after doctors in several local hospitals reported numerous cases of food poisoning and malnutrition. A subsequent investigation found that cases were largely the result of spoiled or inadequate rations. According to Dr Khalil Mehdi, a spokesman for the health ministry’s Nutritional Research Institute, tainted or inadequate food rations can cause malnutrition, particularly in children. Many of the rationed food items, meanwhile, such as beans and biscuits, lack the vitamins and essential proteins essential for children’s growth. “Some families depend entirely on food rations to survive,” said Mehdi. “If these aren’t nutritious, they’ll suffer from malnutrition and other diseases.”

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