Russia’s food safety chief Gennady Onishchenko raised doubts on Monday, May 14, over the safety of vegetables imported from the Netherlands, which he said had been experimenting with mutations of the avian flu virus, RIA Novosti reported.

“The Netherlands is engaged in an activity banned by international conventions. It alters properties, in particular, the properties of bird flu viruses, increasing their virulence compared with natural strains,” he said.

“Being aware of this process, we believe we must understand why this is being done and how much this threatens Russia’s national security, Onishchenko said.

Onishchenko has repeatedly claimed the European Union has failed to identify the causes of a highly pathogenic E.coli intestinal virus that claimed several lives in Europe last summer and prompted Russia to restrict vegetable imports from the EU.