Photo shows some of the products sold at a branch of Wooden Bakery. (Credit: woodenbakery.com)
BEIRUT — The laboratory tests on samples of the flour from the Wooden Bakery factory in Zahle, in the Bekaa, that were seized in May for allegedly being contaminated, showed that the flour "is not contaminated," a spokesperson for Wooden Bakery told L'Orient Today on Friday.
In a statement relayed by the state-run National News Agency Friday, Wooden Bakery explained that it had "received the results of the laboratory tests on samples of the flour, which were conducted in two batches at the laboratories of the Industrial Research Institute. The tests proved that the samples meet the required standards set by the relevant Lebanese institutions, and therefore, the quantities of flour are not contaminated."
The Internal Security Forces were not available for comment on the matter at the time of publication of this article.
On May 27, the bakery said in a statement that "a quantity of expired flour was seized at the factory of Wooden Bakery in Zahle. The flour was confiscated, and samples were taken for laboratory testing. The test results were expected to be issued within a week. However, the matter did not stop there."
The factory was sealed with red wax, and the Chairman of the company's Board of Directors, the General Manager, the Production Manager, the Head of Mixing, and several other workers were also detained, the statement explained.
"All these measures were taken before the laboratory test results were issued, leading to the company being preemptively condemned and subjected to the maximum penalty before the contamination of the flour was proven. This has dramatically negatively impacted the company's sales, posing a threat to the continuity of its business operations," the statement concluded.
