The Food Security Service of the Central Operational Service for Combating Organized Crime of the National Gendarmerie has uncovered a facility in Blida province where managers were producing tortilla bread using spoiled flour.
According to a statement from the authorities, an inspection of the facility by investigators revealed that it belongs to a company operating under an industrial bakery commercial register. A significant quantity of subsidized flour was seized, and samples of both the raw material and the final product were sent to the National Institute of Forensic Science and Criminology of the National Gendarmerie for expert analysis. The results confirmed that the products were non-compliant and posed a risk to consumer health.
The investigation established that the company manager produced tortilla bread using regular flour packaged in 50kg bags. This flour was obtained from a subsidiary of a holding company at a price of 2,000 dinars per quintal, a rate legally reserved for bakers to produce subsidized bread. This practice allowed the company to generate substantial additional profits since it began dealing with the holding company’s branches.
Records show that more than 24,000 quintals of the material were purchased for a total value of approximately 4 billion centimes, while sales of the final product reached nearly 77 billion centimes. A legal case has been prepared against the company manager and his associates, who were presented before the competent public prosecutor.
The defendants face charges including diverting goods from their intended preferential use, fraud in the sale of food intended for human consumption, consumer deception, using an unregistered trademark, and violating product conformity regulations.
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