A number of Zambian supermarkets are selling expired goods despite government action to outlaw the practice. In the country’s larger cities, consumers often fail to pay attention to the expiration date of goods which some stores are capitalising on.
A random survey by the RNW has revealed that some chain stores in the capital of Lusaka do not normally remove goods that are due to pass their sell by date but simply shift them from their usual display shelves to the “sale” section.
At a major butchers in Lusaka, it was revealed that shop owners are in the habit of switching the expired date tags with newer ones in order to continue selling expired meat produce to unsuspecting customers.
Lucas Mulenga, 40, of Lusaka described a recent incident when together with his wife, he attempted to return to Shoprite Checkers, a one kilogramme packet of out of date sugar but was refused because the matter was raised a day after purcahse.
“We showed them the receipt and tried to reason with them that the sugar had expired as was indicated on the tag, but they totally refused,” he said.
“It is not the first time it has happened because I also witnessed a similar incident in the past,” stated Mulenga.
Expired but on ‘sale’
Mercy Munthali, a Lusaka housewife, accused Shoprite, a leading supermarket chain in Zambia, of constantly failing to adhere to the government ban on the sale of expired goods.
Mercy explained that “Shoprite usually only moves the expired goods from their shelves and places them at the ‘sale’ section where people still buy them but at a reduced price.”
“But then it is dangerous because some people may one day die of food poisoning caused by eating expired food,” she observed.
The Shoprite management totally refused to comment on the issue when contacted for a comment while several (shelf) stackers I interviewed insisted the supermarket only sold “fresh and quality” goods.
“We immediately take them (goods) off the shelves and put them in the storeroom for disposal as soon as we find expired goods,” said a female shelf stacker who refused to be named for fear of reprisals from management.
Old and new
Joseph Meleki, 52, another Lusaka resident, accused major butchers in Lusaka of changing expiration date tags and mixing the expired meat products with fresh ones in order to confuse buyers.
“Most active shops in town still sell expired goods. They take advantage of the failure by some people to pay attention to the expiration dates of goods. I have seen it several times,” he stated.
Butchers at Zambeef, one of the meat outlets accused of selling expired meat products, demanded proof from the accusers.
“Our policy is to always sell fresh produce, we pay particular attention to that, and pride ourselves on only selling quality meat,” said the male attendant. He did not want named.
Fit for consumption
The task of ensuring all traders only sell goods fit for consumption is in the hands of the Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZBU). However, some people have accused the organization of laxity and failing to fulfill its constitutional responsibility, a matter it has always refused.
“ZBS rarely conducts random inspections but waits for people to make complaints,” said Mr Meleki. “But then, even after you complain, nothing happens. It should do more actually.”
But ZBS spokesman Lingela stated his organization is working round the clock to ensure shops only trade goods that have not exceeded their sell by date.
He stated that ZBS operated quietly most of the time and that it had sanctioned numerous traders in the past for flouting their expiration date regulations.
“We are more than geared to root out this trend, and would ensure that it stops,” he said.
Extracted from Xtreme Zambia website,posted on 10 August, 2011 http://www.xtremezambia.net/out-of-date-and-on-your-plate
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