Morocco Investigates Reports of Contaminated Watermelons in Markets

In his written response, Ait Taleb indicated that the health authorities in Agadir, in coordination with the regional services of the National Office of Food Safety (ONSSA), carried out surveillance operations in the markets of the kingdom, assuring that no case of poisoning was recorded during the period and that the watermelons controlled did not contain pesticide residues or substances harmful to human health.

The Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of the Interior continue to carry out checks on food in retail outlets and restaurants, adds the Minister of Health, insisting on the need for these establishments to comply with the prevailing hygiene conditions and to check the medical record of their employees.

Ait Taleb said that nearly 140,000 health control operations are carried out each year by the regional services of the Ministry of Health in these establishments, of which 13,000 workers involved in food preparation have undergone medical examinations. Similarly, 54,000 awareness-raising sessions have been organized and more than 8,000 bacteriological analyses of food samples have been carried out.