France bans Algerian spread toasted on social media

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00:00In a small corner store in working-class Marseille, you can still find it.

00:05But if you want a jar of El Morjan, it'll cost you.

00:0930 euros a jar? You've got to be kidding.

00:13It's like 50 cents at home.

00:17The sweet creamy hazelnut spread has become so popular in France over recent weeks

00:22that its price has at least quadrupled.

00:25That sudden success may have been its undoing.

00:29Its import is now banned.

00:31The French Ministry of Agriculture citing Algerian livestock health and food safety standards.

00:37Algeria does not meet the conditions for a third country to export products to the European Union

00:43containing dairy ingredients intended for human consumption.

00:47Algeria's Consumer Protection Association says the ban is unjustified.

00:52It's accusing France of seeking to protect European nut spreads like Nutella

00:57from the Italian sweets giant Ferrero.

00:59Ferrero, for its part, denies any involvement in the ban.

01:03Across the Mediterranean, meanwhile, El Morjan's newfound celebrity

01:07has made it a source of national pride.

01:11I traveled 20 kilometers to find this.

01:14It's gotten famous abroad.

01:16It's a product of our country.

01:20The small family business that makes El Morjan in the Algerian city of Oran

01:24says the craze has driven its orders sky high around the world.

01:28But in France, where it started, shipments remain blocked at the border.

01:33An official investigation has been launched

01:35to determine how it has managed to be imported up to this point.

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