Russian watchdog to enhance control over quality of grain exports

MOSCOW, Mar 25 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Oversight has ordered its territorial branches to enhance control over the quality of grain exports, the watchdog said Friday.

The instruction follows media reports stating that Lebanon’s healthcare ministry uncovered a batch of Russian grain supplies with an excessive content of ochratoxin, a naturally occurring toxin produced by two main types of fungi, Aspergillus and Penicillium, the watchdog said.

The regulator said it had sent a request for additional information to the Russian embassy in Lebanon.

Ochratoxin often occurs in stored cereal and can affect kidneys, the immune and nervous system, and provoke tumors.

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