MOSCOW—Russia ordered tougher checks on Turkish food imports on Thursday, taking aim at the country's economy two days after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane on its border with Syria.

Russian Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachyov ordered tighter control on agricultural products from Turkey, including additional checks at the border and at production sites, saying some Turkish products don't meet Russian standards.

A Kremlin spokesman said the agriculture ministry's move wasn't an embargo. "But due to increased danger and various extremist developments, naturally, additional checks are being made," said the spokesman, Dmitry Peskov. "It's completely natural, especially given the unpredictable actions in the case of the Republic of Turkey."

Russia's introduction of tougher inspections on foodstuffs frequently coincides with heightened tensions with the country affected, including a ban on wine from Georgia from 2006 and restrictions on various Ukrainian products in the last two years. Russia banned European food products last year in response to Western sanctions over Moscow's interventions in Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that Russia isn't planning to create "artificial problems" for Turkish citizens and businesses in response to the shooting down of its plane. But officials have said Moscow will react to the incident, and that relations will suffer. Russia's only public reaction so far to the incident has been to ship one of its most-advanced air-defense systems to its air base in Syria.

The Russian Agriculture Ministry said in a statement that it analyzed Turkish food imports after consumers and industry associations raised the issues. The ministry found that 15% of Turkish agricultural products didn't meet Russian standards, he said. There have been 40 cases since the start of the year where officials found traces of harmful and prohibited substances in animal products, and excessive amounts of pesticides and nitrates have been found in fruit and vegetables, he said.

Russia's consumer watchdog has already withdrawn more than 800 kilograms of Turkish foodstuff from stores across Russia, the Interfax news agency reported.

Russia could suffer an increase in inflation, already running around 15%, as Turkey is among the top suppliers of fruit and vegetables to Russia with a share of the market between 15% and 20%, Nomura bank said. Russian Deputy Finance Minister Maxim Oreshkin said he didn't see "radical risks" for the ruble and inflation from worsening relations between Russia and Turkey, Interfax reported.

Russia's imports from Turkey as well as from other countries has already shrunk substantially as the ruble lost more than 40% of its value against the dollar over the past year. According to Russia's customs service, imports from Turkey, which accounts for 4.6% of Russia's international trade turnover, fell by 38.5% in the first nine months of this year.

Write to Andrey Ostroukh at andrey.ostroukh@wsj.com and James Marson at james.marson@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 26, 2015 07:05 ET (12:05 GMT)