Russia bans food imports from West, but says it has nothing to do with sanctions
Faults found in fruit, cheese and other products have nothing to do with sanctions, insists Russia
As the United States and Europe step up economic sanctions against Russia, Moscow's food-safety epidemiologists have been working overtime.
In the past few weeks, Russian agricultural and consumer watchdog agencies have announced the discovery of harmful levels of antibiotics in US poultry, contaminants in Ukrainian dairy, pests in European produce and bacteria in US fast food. They have either imposed or threatened blanket bans on products in response to the reported "violations".
Russian agencies claim it is a coincidence that the products are from countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia for its support of a separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine or have otherwise angered the Kremlin.
But experts say the bans are highly politicised gestures in classic Russian diplomatic style. And because it may be too domestically costly for Russia to respond to measures restricting guns, oil exploration and banks in kind, they have settled for sticking it to fruit, cheese and fast food.
"There is always a regulatory agency, environmental agency, or something ready to act," said Konstantin Sonin, a professor at Moscow's Higher School of Economics, explaining that the tactics are common in Russia.
As evidence of the link to sanctions, Sonin pointed to the publicity devoted to the recent food bans in state-run media. "You can tell by the way it was reported," he said. "It would not be such a very big thing if this was a local issue."