صحافة بلادي صحيفة إلكترونية مغاربية متجددة على مدار الساعة تعنى بشؤون المغرب الجزائر ليبيا موريتانيا تونس
Algeria –The death of a 17-year-old young man and an infant in Algeria, with the two cases suspected to be linked to food poisoning after consuming seasonal fruits, sparked a wave of concern and anger, amid warnings from consumer protection organizations about the continued use of wastewater to irrigate some agricultural crops.
The two incidents, which were recorded in the states of M’sila and Djelfa, coincided with the recording of other cases of food poisoning, while video clips spread across social media sites said to document the use of wastewater in watering fruits, which revived the debate about the safety of agricultural products and mechanisms for monitoring them.
The national coordinator of the Algerian Organization for the Protection and Guidance of Consumers and their Environment, Fadi Tamim, confirmed that some farmers resort to using polluted water for irrigation due to the repercussions of drought, even though Algerian law prohibits this practice and stipulates penalties for violators, noting that some of them circumvent oversight by exploiting remote lands or invisible canals.
Tamim explained that the organization had previously alerted to this phenomenon and called on citizens to report it, warning that the use of contaminated water for irrigation may lead to the transfer of germs and bacteria to agricultural products, which may cause serious cases of food poisoning.
In the same context, public health specialists pointed out that food poisoning during the summer is not only related to irrigation water, but may also result from excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides, poor preservation of fruits and vegetables, and failure to respect hygiene conditions during production and marketing.
Experts stress the need to distinguish between acute poisonings resulting from bacterial contamination, and chronic poisonings associated with pesticide and fertilizer residues, the health effects of which may appear in the long term.
These developments come at a time when calls are increasing for tightening control over the fruit production and marketing chain, and strengthening monitoring procedures to protect consumers’ health, especially with rising temperatures during the summer
Source:“My press”
