Authorities had raided four workshops they suspected of using a toxic chemical to produce noodles in Banteay Meanchey province’s Mongkol Borei district yesterday, an official said.

According to police, the owners of the workshops were using borax, a toxic compound that can cause nausea, persistent vomiting, abdominal pain and even liver cancer if used for a long period.

Authorities confiscated 255 kilograms of noodles containing 35 kilograms of borax from the four producers in the raids.

“Cracking down on illegal food-producing shops is yet to be completed,” Mongkol Borei district police chief Yort Sophal said.

Uth Sophea, the director of Banteay Meanchey province’s Camcontrol branch, a government office involved in the crackdowns, said the four shop owners had been fined and sent to court.

Even though borax is banned as a food additive, its use in Cambodia to produce noodles, sausages, dry fish and seafood is common, authorities say.

To contact the reporter on this story: Khoun Leakhana at [email protected]