Basra health department has formed supervision committees on the border crossings with neighboring countries to check all types of food supplies. A spokesman within the department said, according to the Kuwaiti Press agency, that lab tests confirmed the existence of large quantities of contaminated food in the markets of Basra as well as other Iraqi provinces.
The spokesman indicated that these food supplies were imported mainly form Turkey. For this reason, the Iraqi health ministry has demanded from Turkey's health authorities to intensify their preventative measures regarding food supply to Iraq.
