Russian citizens are protesting a government decision to burn 350 tons of food rather than distributing it to the nation’s poor.

Government troops intercepted a contraband food shipment including Irish pork and cheeses, Italian kiwis and more.  Apparently some of the food was being shipped to the BMW car racing team that is participating in an event in Moscow.

“The department decided to impound goods at the checkpoint due to gross violation of sanitary rules,” Tass quoted food watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor as saying.

A spokesman for the Kremlin said that the policy of destroying food is likely to continue.

“I agree that it does not look pleasant,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov conceded in an interview to RBC News.

The Moscow Times was critical of the government’s action, stating “starvation and deprivation weren’t abstract concepts to Soviet people — even privileged Soviet people — just a couple of generations ago.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin banned Western food imports in 2014 in retaliation for sanctions placed against Russia due to their invasion of Ukraine.