The substandard pulses were found during an inspection at the WFP godown at Cotton Development Committee premises at Khajura in Nepalgunj.

Lawmaker and committee coordinator Sanjay Gautam informed that rotten pulses were found in one of the three godowns of WFP. “We are investigating how the rotten pulses ended up in the godown,” said Gautam.

But the WFP said that the substandard pulses (yellow split peas) were not meant for distribution as they had already been rejected by WFP and were in the process of being sent back to the supplier.

“WFP ordered 1,000 metric tons of yellow split peas for the victims of the earthquake. When the shipment arrived in Nepalgunj, the WFP regional food technologist came from Bangkok to inspect it. She found that the pulses were not meeting WFP quality specifications,” said Iolanda Jaquemet, WFP Communications Officer.

Meanwhile, WFP said it has purchased another 1,000 metric tons of yellow split peas from Nepali suppliers, which are in the process of being delivered to earthquake affected victims.

This is not the first instance of the discovery of substandard food items distributed by WFP, the largest humanitarian agency fighting to end hunger in the world.

The food assistance branch of the United Nations has come under fire recently for distributing substandard and rotten rice to the earthquake victims. Victims in different districts have complained that the rice distributed by WFP were inedible as rice grains had turned black in colour and clustered in round shapes. While some decided to return the relief materials, others fell sick after consuming it.

Recently, quake victims in Gorkha district returned the rice distributed by WFP after lumps of rice grains that had turned black was found in sacks distributed to them as relief.