The Health Ministry recently issued an advisory appealing to consumers to be more vigilant with regards to expiry dates of products as there have been increased reports by the Food and Drug Analyst Department that expired goods are being found on shelves of business places.
This is indeed a very timely bit of advice because many consumers do not pay keen attention to expiry dates on labels and the unscrupulous “hawks” are always on the look out for such “preys.”
In addition, it is impractical for the Food and Drug Analyst Department to have its presence to be felt at all business places all the time. Therefore consumers have to help protect themselves.
A statement issued by the Ministry, last week, said it noted that the department, through its inspectors, has been visiting various businesses to ensure that wholesalers and retailers are maintaining stocks which are within the manufacturers’ recommended dates for usage.
“Unfortunately, the inspectors are few and cannot be at every business place for every minute. For effective vigilance, the consumers must be a part of the system that will force shops, stores, supermarkets, pharmacies and other vendors to be fully compliant,” the Ministry said.
Trusting consumers have reported making purchases of expired goods on sale, including milk, sausages, medicines, baby foods and canned fruits.
This problem of selling expired products to unsuspecting consumers apparently is on the increase in developing countries because it has become a worrisome problem in several other such countries.
A couple of years ago this is what appeared in a news report in Uganda: “Shoppers in eastern Uganda are at a risk following the discovery that most supermarkets where they shop sell expired goods. Officials from the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) said on Thursday after raids on several supermarkets that many goods on sale in these shops are either adulterated or expired”
“The District Internal Security office requested UNBS to carry out the operation after receiving numerous complaints by consumers.”
“UNBS officials found out that most supermarkets in Mbale displayed goods whose sale-by date had elapsed.
“They say the traders repackage the goods or place a new date on the old packs.”
“Our survey indicates that the problem is so big and needs serious attention from our office, the public and police,” the head of the Surveillance Division at UNBS, Martin Imalingat said.
A similar news report appeared recently in India: “The Tamil Nadu Government has warned of stern action against multi-national companies, running supermarkets and others who distributed and sold expired food products in the state.”
“Replying to a Special Call Attention on expired goods, especially food items being sold in the retail and supermarkets, Food Minister E V Velu told the State Assembly on Tuesday, that action would be taken against both under the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954.”
“As far as the issue is concerned, the government would take very serious action against the offenders, he said adding he would consult the Chief Minister and explore the possibility of giving more teeth to the laws to deal with the offenders.”
“Minister Velu said, acting on a tip off that expired goods were stored in a godown at Washermenpet in North Chennai, officials from the Civil Supplies Department and Chennai Corporation broke open the lock of the godown and seized 47 items valued at Rs ten lakh.”
“The seizure included food products, soaps, tea, biscuits, toothpaste, chocolates and toiletries.”
“Two persons were arrested in this connection, the Food Minister said.”
Expired consumer products, particularly food and medicine, could expose people to health hazards and their quality and effectiveness.
An article by Sudesh Samuel points out the hazards of expired consumer products, “When most drugs pass their expiry date under appropriate storage conditions, they are generally taken to have become so variable in effectiveness as to have become unsuitable for use. This often comes about as a result of the degradation of the active ingredients of the drug product with exposure to physical, chemical or microbiological variables like temperature, pressure, humidity, light, bacteria as well as other components of the product known as excipients.
“Creams may “crack” once their expiry date is passed, leading to a separation of the components and hence provide a non-uniform delivery of active ingredients. This can lead to the poor control of conditions like eczema or acne. Tablets of drugs can mechanically “powder” off, change in consistency with exposure to water vapor or even become ineffective on prolonged exposure to air as occurs with glyceryl trinitrate, an emergency medicine that can easily become ineffective in relieving acute symptoms of chest pain. With common injections, should the acidity change to fall outside a fairly narrow range, significant pain and tissue damage can result from use. With most eye drops, an expiry date of one month after opening is accepted to minimize the potential for dangerous bacterial contamination.”
“In any drug product, once a specific threshold of remaining active drug is passed, the drug product can no longer be relied upon to deliver accurate doses. This loss of reliability is often exacerbated by the fact that the active ingredients can degrade into various combinations of active, inactive or toxic breakdown products.”