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Mushrooms heading for EU undergo comprehensive tests for radioactive contamination, supplier says

Wild mushrooms exported by Belarus to Western European countries undergo comprehensive tests for radioactive contamination, Ihar Silin, deputy CEO of Moka that supplies wild chanterelles to the European Union, said in an interview with BelaPAN on Monday.

An environmental group based in Germany’s Munich has recently sounded alarm over what it called radioactively contaminated chanterelle mushrooms heading from Eastern Europe. The group said that the mushrooms with radiation levels twice the norm were collected either in Belarus or Russia or Ukraine and were packed in Lithuania or Latvia mixed with mushrooms gathered in the Baltic state to indicate the “less suspicious EU” as the place of origin.

“Although I cannot be responsible for all suppliers, I would like to note that Belarus has a very good radiation control system that is enforced stringently,” Mr. Silin told BelaPAN. “Domestic and external controls are tough.”
Wild mushrooms are tested at least three times, being examined at a laboratory and by sanitary authorities, he said, noting that tests for radioactive contamination are also conducted at the border.

Mr. Silin said that he did not rule out that the German environmental group’s claim was nothing else but “rivals’ intrigues.”