A Scot reportedly faces prison time in Kyrgyzstan for calling the country's national dish "horse penis".
Michael McFeat's colleagues at Kumtor Mine, the largest gold mine in central Asia, were queuing for the traditional dish of chuchuk, or horse sausage.
He posted to Facebook they were eating "special delicacy, the horse's penis," which caused such offence it sparked a brief strike at the mine.
Kumtor Mine
A spokesman for the country's interior ministry told Agence France Presse that Mr Mcfeat, who works for Canada-based Centerra Gold, was detained by police after posting the comment.
AFP reported that he was arrested under the country's racial hatred laws, which can carry a punishment of five years in prison.
Mr McFeat, who is from the village of Abernethy near Perth, appears to have deleted the Facebook post.
He has written a new post saying: "I would like to take the opportunity to sincerely appologise for the comment I made on here about the kygyz people and horses penis. I truly never meant to offend anyone and I’m truly sorry, as it was never my intension. I would also like to say the people in the picture had absolutely nothing to do with it. Again I’m very, very sorry."