Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have banned the import of soya bean, soya paste and spices from South East Asian countries, said reports.
The temporary ban was forced following reports of detection of some cancer-causing chemicals in the food, said the Gulf Times on Thursday.
A Qatari health official said that the temporary ban applied to retailers and hoteliers as well, which meant no sale or supply of the banned products would be allowed in Qatar until further notice.
He said a high-level committee of the public health ministry at its meeting decided to ban the items on a temporary basis.
An earlier report quoting the British Food Standards Agency said certain brands of soya sauce or soya products from certain South East Asian countries had unacceptable levels of 3-MPCD, a cancer-causing chemical.
Following this, Saudi Arabia had ordered them taken off store shelves.
Fakhroo said some samples might be tested in the health ministry’s laboratory soon.
He also said the ban on Spanish olive oil continued.
Gulf Cooperation Council states suspended imports of Spanish olive oil earlier this month over fears it contained another carcinogenic substance called benzopyrene – Albawaba.com
