Regional health, other officials clamp down on expired goods
THE Environmental Health Department(EHD) of Region 5 (Mahaica/Berbice)and the Government Analyst Food and Drug Department(GAD) last week effected a campaign in West Berbice aimed at protecting consumers from buying expired food products. The businesses targeted were wholesale and retail outlets, supermarkets and storage bonds located at Bush Lot, Hopetown and Bath. Officials visited those entities and inspected the goods on offer for sale. They discovered that in some instances, some of the food products on sale were past their expiry dates. Those products included noodle soups, vinegars, vitamins, juices, pineapple juices, cranberry juices, evaporated milk, Pringles products, energy drinks, blackpepper, Chinese spices, cake mixes, margarines, Tropicana juices, instant Quaker Oats, Blue Band margarine, Holiday salted nuts, Rosa ghee, curried mutton, Jack mackarel, Sunshine caramel, and Tampico juices.
Those businesses found with expired goods fully cooperated with the team in handing over the items for destruction.
There were also instances of poor labelling by some manufacturers, in which the expiry dates were written as month, day and year, instead of the standardized day, month and year. The incorrect statement of expiry dates on some manufacturers’ products was also reasonable cause for concern.
The spokesman for the team said that the EHD and the GAD were urging manufacturers to correct this anomaly, in order to prevent confusion.
With respect to those who buy, the source at the EHD repeated, an advisory was issued: Buyer, beware! “Consumers have the responsibility to check the expiry dates on the containers of products before buying, since consuming expired food products can lead to serious illness,” the source stated, adding: “In the event, though, that on returning home from shopping they find that they had bought expired goods by mistake, they should bring it to the attention of the EHD or the GAD, to ensure that corrective action is taken.”

Voluntary disposal
The team also found that an appreciable amount of business places had, of their own volition, removed expired goods from their shelves. Products with short shelf lives had been offered for sale at reduced prices in order to hasten their purchase before their expiry dates.
The West Berbice business people had all indicated their willingness to carry out more frequent stock-taking to identify expired goods, and to sell only products that are safe for human consumption.
The source said: “The EHD and the GAD welcome these positive initiatives by proprietors of those outlets, and are encouraging other businesses to do the same.”
The EHD and the GAD will conduct campaigns in other parts of Region 5, in keeping with their mandates to ensure that consumer products being offered for sale are, at all times, safe and wholesome.
A source on the raiding team deemed the campaign successful.