Authorities in the northern French city of Rouen, where a massive fire this week ravaged a chemicals factory, banned the harvesting of crops and sale of produce of animal origin from the region, as a precautionary measure, reports FRANCE 24.
Soot spewed out by the blaze over some agricultural areas was "liable to present a public health risk that requires us to take immediate measures on a precautionary basis", the regional administration said.
It added in decrees published on Sunday that in the absence of food safety guarantees from producers, anything likely to have been exposed to contamination would have to be destroyed.
Around 100 districts in the area surrounding Rouen are expected to have been affected.
On Friday, France's health minister Agnès Buzyn said she could not guarantee there was no risk to the public from the pollution caused by the fire. Schools and creches, which shut following the fire due to safety concerns, open Monday.