Industry observers noted that the incident could further damage the meat trade between the two countries, especially given the growing political tension over Ukraine.
"Russian veterinary watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor tested the chicken sausage samples from the US. The total size of the two different shipments is 12 tonnes, which was supplied to the Primorsky Krai [region in far east Russia]. During laboratory tests, almost twice the maximum permissible rate of lead - 0.85mg/kg in the first shipment and 0.87mg/kg in the second shipment– was discovered, instead of the allowed rate of 0.5mg/kg," according to Rosselkhoznadzor press secretary Alexei Alexeenko.
Russian veterinary specialists noted that lead is carcinogenic and said the revealed dose was potentially dangerous for human health, while a dose of 1mg could cause serious side effects and a dose of 10mg could lead to death.
Experts from Rosselkhoznadzor are now conducting a large-scale verification of all imported meat products in Russia’s far east regions. They noted that the incident could lead the Russian veterinary watchdog to introduce new bans on meat supplies.
"Very often, a deterioration in political relations with some countries coincides with Rosselkhoznadzor’s actions to restrict imports from a particular country. At the moment, the issue of banning meat products from the US has not yet been raised, but could be under certain conditions," said Russian agricultural analyst Eugene Gerden.
While the US is not the largest importer of finished meat products to Russia, as its total share in the country’s meat import structure only amounts to 6-7%, in some of the far eastern regions, this figure is as high as 30-40%.