SHOPPERS in Region 5 (Mahaica/Berbice) have been urged to be extra vigilant about expiry dates when buying food products. They were urged to be particularly suspicious about items which when examined do not have expiry dates or expiry dates which are legible.
The advice, often repeated, came from the Environmental Health Department (EHD) in the region in the wake of recent raids it carried out which identified and destroyed expired food products which were being offered for sale to the public.
The raids were carried out in conjunction with the Government Analyst Department and some specific business places in West Berbice were visited following public complaints, an official source said.
Products found to be expired, but being offered for sale, were snacks such as Big Foot, Cheese Fries, King Korns, Koopeez, Crunchy Corn Cones, Betty Crocker Cake Mix, Swiss Macaroni, hundreds of packs of Milo, Caramel and Oreo biscuits.
These products were seized and destroyed. Several products were found without expiry dates.
These dates were suspected to have been deliberately removed.
The official said that the Department wished to register its concern about unscrupulous businessmen who remove the expiry dates from food products and offer them for sale.
This it notes can be potentially harmful to consumers. These were also seized and destroyed.
The Environmental Health Department of Region 5 wishes to urge consumers to be vigilant and check the expiry dates on food products before purchasing.
The Department also wishes to urge consumers not to purchase food products without expiry dates.
Owners of businesses are urged to do regular stock taking to identify and remove expired food products from its shelves, the Food safety Official said.