THE National Milling Company (NAMILCO) is angry over what it calls a ‘white substance’ being sold in a rice bag on the local market as flour. It has lodged formal complaints with the Food and Drugs Department and the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS), with a view to have corrective action taken.
Food inspectors attached to the Ministry of Health have since indicated that the matter will be actively pursued.
Meantime, the company warned its consumers yesterday that “someone or a company is selling a white substance as flour packed in a 4.5 kg bag marked Product of Guyana.”
The bag is labeled ‘Regal Superior Quality Long Grain Rice Packed for Regal Distributors Ltd, Kingston Free Zone, Jamaica’ and carries no expiry time or date of manufacture.
According to NAMILCO, it has not authorised anyone to repackage its products.
“We can safely say, from our tests, that this white substance is not NAMILCO’s flour,” it said, adding that it has been dissuading supermarkets, shops and grocery stores from dealing with the “unhygienic substance.”
The company, which is Guyana’s only flour miller, said the merchandise can be found particularly in Linden, where it is being retailed.
“Whoever is doing the packaging of this product is putting people’s lives and health at risk,” NAMILCO warned.
It said, “NAMILCO will not accept responsibility for any repercussions emanating from the consumption of this product.”