A shocking food safety case has come to light in Egypt recently after authorities raided an unlicensed factory that was using expired ingredients and charcoal instead of chocolate in the production of biscuits.

The serious food safety violation was detected in a city called Kafr Shokr in Qalyubia Governorate, which is located north of Cairo in the Nile Delta region. Photos that were captured during an inspection campaign and shared by the Governorate's official page on Facebook revealed bizarre details from inside the factory, showing a lack of basic hygiene measures and boxes of biscuits on the floor.

Authorities acted quickly and seized a 100kg barrel of expired glucose, three cartons of expired butter weighing a total of 30kg, a plastic barrel containing black colouring made from vegetable charcoal. In addition, 50 cartons of biscuits weighing 7kg each, as well as 55 sacks of biscuits used for reprocessing, with a total weight of 1,100kg were confiscated. The total amount of seized raw materials and products weighed approximately 1.8 tonnes.

Besides the biscuits, the unlicensed maufacturing facility was producing ice cream. It was found to be using materials without invoices. Authorities confirmed that legal action was taken against the violator, with the case set to be referred to the relevant authorities for completion of the prescribed legal procedures.

The Qalyubia governor stressed that intensive inspection campaigns targeting markets and food establishments would continue, adding that violations would be dealt with firmly and legal action would be taken against any establishment failing to comply with applicable requirements and regulations, in order to protect consumers’ rights and safeguard their health and safety.

Following the raid, Hossam Abdel Fattah, Governor of Qalyubia, directed the relevant authorities to carry out intensified inspection and food-control campaigns across markets and food establishments throughout the governorate, with stricter monitoring of the circulation of food commodities and products to safeguard public health and safety.

Strong backlash online
After the news of the bust was shared, many Egyptians expressed their anger over the outrageous violations, with many calling for the death penalty for all those endangering the health of millions of consumers.

On the internet, a strong backlash emerged. One X user commented by saying: “The owners and workers should have their breakfast, lunch and dinner from this factory's products.”

Another said: "These people have harmed a large portion of the population by causing illnesses and they may have even caused some of them to die. I hope the state refers this case to a military court and that they receive swift death sentences, just as they have killed people, so they can serve as a deterrent to others; otherwise, this will happen again.”

Under Egypt's anti-fraud law, those convicted of producing or selling adulterated, spoiled or expired food can face between one and five years in prison and a fine of up to 30,000 Egyptian pounds, or the value of the goods, whichever is greater. The penalty rises to between two and seven years if the food is deemed harmful to human health.