Distributed food in Nepal no problem: WFP

The World Food Program (WFP) has reiterated that nothing was wrong with its food distributed in Nepal, local media reported on Sunday.

According to The Kathmandu Post daily, the UN agency said in a release that it was concerned over the recent report of the Nepal Human Rights Commission, which said that WFP-distributed food was also to blame for the diarrhea outbreak that killed about 400 people in the mid and far western regions.

The WFP said it is troubled over the implications of "claims that are not based on new scientific tests, including the alarm it could raise among more than 2 million Nepalis, who depend on our food."

It noted that a probe by the Natural Resources Institute, an internationally recognized expert in the field of quality assurance, has shown WFP food is safe for human consumption.

"Numerous experts, including representatives from the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health, have stated that the illnesses in the mid and far west were results of contaminated water, poor sanitation and lack of hygiene," the WFP said.

"Claiming otherwise is untrue and puts more lives at risk by diminishing efforts that will prevent diarrhea outbreak in the future."

Source: Xinhua