Georgetown: Four containers filled with an assortment of expired food items from Canada were denied entry into Guyana, according to the Government Analyst Food and Drug Department on Wednesday.
The containers were imported by a businessman from Mon Repos Housing Scheme, East Coast Demerara.
This move comes on the heels of several complaints of the alleged malpractice from consumers and attempts by the Food and Drug Department (FDD) to locate and inspect his storage bonds.
The containers were seized and inspected on October 25 and 30.
FDD inspectors revealed a shocking find – expiry dates were deliberately removed and extended with a date-marking machine and damaged areas on boxes where the original date was removed were hidden using a Canadian flag sticker.
Along with that, inspectors revealed that products suspected to be expired or short dated were deliberately removed from the original container or packages and placed into bulk containers void of labeling details.
The FDD disclosed that most, if not all items of food, were close dated with less than 75% of the shelf life remaining before importation, expiry dates were removed on other products and the shelf life extended using a date-marking machine, while other items were labeled with misleading information e.g. Acetic Acid was labeled as “White Vinegar”.
For these reasons, the FDD announced, the containers were denied entry.
However, inspections will be carried out at retail stores across Guyana since two of the containers bearing substandard items were electronically released from the port of entry without the Department’s consent or approval. According to the Food and Drug Department, they visited the businessman’s premises but could not locate the reported items.
Legal charges are expected to be instituted by the Department’s prosecutor against the importer “for knowingly or deliberately facilitating the importation and release of substandard articles of food to be used by the general populace of Guyana”.
“Consumers and retailers are therefore asked to be very vigilant and pay attention to the labels of products and to ensure dates are not tampered with.”
Additionally, the Department said consumers are advised to ensure “they purchase food that are properly labeled in English, have clearly written date marks, with a complete address of manufacture and with font sizes that are clearly legible to the naked eye”.
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