– for vendors of expired goods

WHEN the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) officers swooped down on vendors of the Stabroek Market Bazaar recently, more than 60 cases of juices and other beverages were seized.

Chief Meat and Food Inspector Onica Alleyne-Blackman told this publication in an interview at City Hall recently that apart from the beverages, chocolates and wafers were among the expired goods.

At the moment, the laws governing the M&CC do not allow for persons to be charged for deliberately selling expired goods. But Blackman noted that instituting a stiffer penalty has already been discussed by authorities.

“Currently, we don’t have any penalties stipulated and in place. So our way of dealing with it is to recoup all the expired stuff. They would’ve paid for them so in doing that, if they would’ve expended large sums of money and we moved such large portions, it would serve as a lesson for the time being,” Blackman explained.

She added: “We’re trying to work out something else to serve as a deterrent. We’re looking to see if we can collaborate with the clerk of markets so that once they are found with the expired goods, through the market we can institute some kind of penalty on them. It was discussed some time ago as a way forward.”
In previous raids, Blackman said the officers have found that persons have been re-labelling items to feature a new expiry date, while others have been wiping out the dates from the product.

But Blackman believes that the vendors are continuing with the practice because they are receiving support from customers. “I think some citizens are fully aware that some of these items are expired, but because of the price range, they willingly take the risk of buying these items. If they are not encouraging, persons would pay attention to the dates,” she opined.

LOOK AT THE DATES
She is encouraging the public to pay more attention to the dates on their products. “Ensure that you pay attention to the dates. Looking at the cheapness of the item and not your health is not the ideal thing. Many times, children have to consume these items and they are a vulnerable group. So the onus is on the adults to protect their children.”

Blackman said the notion that a product is good months after its expiry date is more of a myth. “The ideal thing is once the item would’ve come to its expiry date, it is not supposed to be on the shelf. I can’t validate that the product is still good after its expiry date, but what I know is that the date is your guide as to whether or not it should be on the shelf. After that date, it has no place being on the shelf.”

The seizing exercise by M&CC recently saw food inspectors moving from stall to stall, checking and confiscating what was found to be expired.
While some vendors complied with the food inspectors, others were left counting their losses.

“It’s an exercise to rid the bazaar of expired products and to ensure what is being sold in the bazaar is healthy and is wholesome for consumers to purchase,” Assistant Meat and Food Inspector Abiola Baker had said.

“We’re only seizing products which are expired… we seize and destroy. Every food business within the City of Geoegetown we visit and carry out this exercise,” she added.
Food products which were expired since 2017 were seized and some had rat bites, mould and even roaches crawling on the packages.

One of the vendors complained, “It is just a date… wham with y’all,” as she sat watching the inspectors raid her stall.

Shoppers and passers-by welcomed the action of the Mayor and City Council as they explained that what was being sold on the market was not healthy for consumers and vendors are just looking to make a dollar.