In Morocco, flour mixed with paper? Ongoing investigation

During the discussion of the 2026 finance bill at the House of Representatives, the deputy questioned the quality of the flour subsidized by the state. He accused certain mills of "grinding paper with the flour". According to him, certain mills were unduly benefiting from more than 16 billion dirhams in public aid. Enough to prompt the opening by the public prosecutor’s office near the Court of Appeal of Rabat of a judicial investigation entrusted to the National Brigade of the Judicial Police (BNPJ).

These same remarks caused an uproar. Moulay Abdelkader Alaoui, president of the National Federation of Milling, described the deputy’s remarks as a "PR stunt" and a "serious mistake". He claims that the figure of 16.8 billion dirhams mentioned by Touizi "defies logic", as it would correspond to about 60 million quintals of soft wheat, at a rate of 270 dirhams per quintal. According to him, the PAM elected official was probably referring to the compensation between the import price and the selling price to the mills. He recalls that this support mechanism has been suspended since last May due to the stabilization of world prices. "The mills do not directly benefit from this support," Alaoui insisted, specifying that it is the importers who benefit from it, with the state bearing the difference.

Trying to cut short the controversy, Touizi explained that the expression "grinding paper" was not literal, and that it referred to the falsification of documents or invoices to obtain subsidies, without any connection to a real mixture of non-food substances with the flour, reports Al Akhbar. From the revelations of the National Office of Sanitary Safety of Food Products (ONSSA), it emerges that there are indeed irregularities in certain mills. The agency has withdrawn nine health authorizations and suspended four others during the year, due to non-compliance with hygiene and quality standards. Last year, 710 flour samples were taken from the mills, markets and sales outlets, resulting in the seizure and destruction of 38 tons of products unfit for consumption, the same source said.

Over the period from January to September 2025, 577 samples were analyzed, 33 tons were destroyed and 60 files were transmitted to the competent authorities. A laboratory analyzed 80 sealed bags from production. The results are unequivocal: anomalies, including excessive mineralization rates, non-compliant sieve rejection and iron content below the legal threshold. The analyzes also revealed that the so-called "national reinforced soft wheat flour" did not meet the standards imposed by Moroccan regulations.