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But the Americans removed them after the fall of the
Saddam regime, paving the way for poor quality food
items to enter the region.
Kamran Muhammed Jafar, 27, said he has been ill with
food poisoning twice in three months after eating
honey and cream. His family members have also been
sick.
“The market is full of bad food,” he said. “In the
past, people said food sold on the carts was bad but
now the food sold at shops is no better.”
Fatimah Abdullah, 70, was ill after eating cheese
bought at the market. “It was an expensive food so I
thought it was good,” she said. “I will never buy it
again.”
Hawkar Salahaddin, a shopkeeper on Sheikh Mahmood
Street in Sulaimaniyah, acknowledged the markets are
full of bad and expired food products. He said that
even items distributed as part of the food ration
are of poor quality.
"This month's rice for the food ration is expired
and it is not good for eating," he said.
Similar problems occurred during the Oil-for-Food
programme when Iraq was also inundated with expired
and inferior quality items that made many people
ill.
The Kurdistan region sought help from the World
Health Organisation to set up a quality control
system, but was turned away as Kurdistan is not a
sovereign nation.
Wishiar Sabeer, of the Food Science Department at
the University of Sulaimaniyah, blames the
government, accusing it of negligence for not
solving the problem.
But the Sulaimaniyah administration insists it is
making an effort, setting up health observation
teams that go to markets and confiscate bad or
expired products.
"Though we haven't been able to control this issue
100 per cent, our teams have been able to seize food
stuff in the market that is not good for eating and
was brought in without our knowledge,” said Dr
Rizgar Ali Jadrees, a public health official, who is
among a number of Iraqis taking part in a ministry
of health/WHO programme aimed at setting up a
quality control system.
Salar Abdullah Mustafa, a merchant on Kaneskan
Street in Sulaimaniyah, believes the government
inspections are working, "Bad stuff comes to the
market but health inspectors are very strict, and
they seldom let bad stuff be sold."
Yaseen Omer and Hemin Baqir are IWPR trainees in
Sulaimaninyah.
www.iwpr.net
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