Look for those labels - CAA warns consumers

by Carol Aloysius

With Christmas shopping now in full swing, health and consumer authorities have reiterated their warning to the public to pay close attention to labels when they purchase food products to ensure safety and reliability.

"This is the time when consumers are at risk of being duped into buying sub quality items sold by unscrupulous vendors. Consumers must check the labels of all items they buy. In the case of food items, they should see if they carry labels that have not been tampered with and contain the name, address of the manufacturer, the list of ingredients, the nutritive value and the expiry and manufactured dates", a health official told the Sunday Observer.

"They must buy only well- known brands from reputed manufacturers", he said. A spokesman for the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) said that recent food raids had uncovered an increasing number of sub quality food items that were either adulterated or outdated.

They were stored in warehouses with false labels and new expiry dates to be distributed among various food outlets in the city.

"The best solution is to introduce proper food labelling guidelines and also to implement them", Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) spokesman Dr Nalinda Herat told the Sunday Observer.

He said that the GMOA had included various requirements for food safety in ten proposals submitted to the Health Ministry recently. One of these proposals is to revise the Food Act of 1980 which lacks to deter unscrupulous vendors.

The other is to re-structure the Food Authority. If these two proposals are implemented the problem will be solved to a great extent", he said.

"Customers confronted with suspicious labels on any food item or labels without addresses must inform us so that appropriate action can be initiated", they said.

" All violators will be taken to court and fined", is the warning issued by the CAA.