AMMAN — An official probe into rumors claiming that a dates
shipment bound for the UK found that the allegations are groundless, but local
producers fear a “long lasting effect” on the reputation of their crop.
اضافة اعلان
The rumors surfaced after Sainsbury’s, the second largest
supermarket chain in the United Kingdom, issued a statement last week to warn
consumers of Medjool dates being contaminated with Hepatitis A, which causes
liver infections.
The Jordanian government took samples from the different
dates exporters to test for Hepatitis A. The investigations, which were carried
out by the Ministry of Agriculture at German and British labs, found that
Jordanian dates are completely free of any type of contamination.
Minister of Agriculture, Khaled Hneifat, told Jordan News in an interview that the rumors are over. He added that the dates imported by
Sainsbury’s come from four different countries, so Sainsbury’s statement was
not specific to Jordan.
According to Hneifat, the rumors would have no negative
effect on local production, especially since the tests disproved them. But
activists and producers beg to differ.
Musa Saket, founder of the Made in Jordan Campaign, believes
that the rumors “harm the Jordanian product.” In an interview with Jordan News,
he called for Jordanian media to counter those claims through highlighting the
truth.
The campaign aims to promote Jordanian production across
various industries. Such rumors, according to Saket, disrupt the mission of
strengthening consumers’ trust in the local product.
Even though Jordanian dates proved to be safe, Sainsbury’s
withdrew the entire product line from the market as the British government
asked to put date imports from all four sources on hold.
Saket believes Jordan to be an excellent producer of dates,
citing that “this has never happened before.” He added that “Jordanian products
have official certificates that ensure their high quality.” The health
regulations implemented in Jordanian farms include Food Safety Management by
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and
Hazard AnalysisCritical Control Point (HACCP).
Anwar Haddad, the president of Jordan Dates Association,
stressed that the contamination issue is not from Jordan and that all local
products are tested before exportation. Nonetheless, the rumors have a negative
impact on local production, according to Haddad.
“Our farms and operations adhere to the highest standards of
quality and they have global certifications. Our workers also get medical tests
on a regular basis. The Jordan Food and Drug Administration supervises the
producers and any violation results in closing the farm immediately,” he said.
Haddad also added that Jordan has been exporting dates to 15
different countries for the past two decades with no issues or complaints,
citing that “this contamination has not been seen in Jordan or in any of the
other 15 countries we export to.”
Both Saket and Haddad suggested that the rumor could be
caused by malicious intent from competing countries.
“There seems to be a pattern of spreading misinformation
about local production, which targets the agricultural sector in particular,”
Haddad told Jordan News.
Iyad Idwan, a dates farmer, believes that the issue became a
game of politics as the two major producers of dates, especially Medjool, are
Jordan and Israel.
“It is all false information. And I think this is happening
because we surpassed them in production and quality,” he charged in an
interview with Jordan News.
The farmer continued to express his concerns regarding the
situation, saying that “British and European markets are one of the biggest
markets open for us and it drastically multiplied our production.”
He added that “The situation during the pandemic is already
very difficult and this makes it even harder. With these rumors, even if they
are proven wrong, consumers will begin to avoid our products. So, this is very
worrying and we need the government to reassure people that Jordanian produce
is completely safe and healthy.”
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