Morocco says its strawberries safe, denies slur reports

Morocco’s agriculture ministry strongly denied reports on foreign media and social media claiming the Kingdom’s exported strawberries are infected with hepatitis A.

The ministry’s strong rejection of such allegations followed a similar denial by Morocco’s food safety agency which conducted tests on the strawberries unveiling the fallacy of the rumors spread on social media.

The allegations “emanate from parties aiming to undermine the reputation of Morocco’s farm products,” the agriculture ministry said in a statement.

Morocco’s farming exports have been hit by a series of attacks including verbal assaults on trucks carrying fresh produce against the backdrop of farmers protests in the EU.

This led Morocco’s foreign minister Nasser Bourita to warn of a growing protectionism and a rejection of the southern Mediterranean’s fresh produce, despite the fact that Morocco, for instance, runs a deficit in food trade with the EU in general.

Morocco’s farmers association COMADER said last week it will resort to the courts against the repetitive attacks and slur campaigns in European circles against Moroccan exports.