Algerians Consume 52.000 tons of Expired Products Annually

The Algerian citizen consumes more than 5.1 kg of expired materials annuallu, which is the equivalent to 52 million kg or 52 thousand tons of expired products, thus representing an alarming figure due to the risk on the health of citizens, which requires the need to intensify teams of control ‭to combat fraud, Experts said during a Forum on Food Security said on Saturday in Algiers.

The participants showed that the Algerian citizen consumes 70 kg of potatoes and 16 kg of meat annually, which is much lower than the rate of global consumption, and in this context, spokesman of the Algerian traders and craftsmen asserted that more than 60% of the food products consumed by the Algerians are imported from abroad, and this makes ‭Algeria ‭in an urgent need ‭to a realistic strategy ‭to realize its ‭food security. ‬

For his part, representative of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Bouguerra, denied the news that 75% of food is imported from abroad, saying that 100% of vegetables consumed by the Algerians are produced locally, and the core fruits as well, except for some fruits like bananas and “Kiwi” , adding that food security in Algeria is facing many challenges, the first is the national economy which depends on oil as a primary source for the public treasury, in addition to the high prices of products that are imported in the international stock markets and the sudden climate change that has negative affects on‬ agricultural crops.

“The Ministry of Agriculture adopted a strategy, especially since the year 2009, to achieve food security, that depends on the promotion of agricultural products that are largely consumed through bank loans without interest on the lines of “Challenge” and “comrade”, together with the development of collections of grains, milk and development of rural areas which is very important in the development of livestock and agricultural production”.