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Retailers on the spot over bad goods displayed on shelves

Sunday August 02 2020
shelves

Some supermarkets and retail shops are selling expired products, among them yogurts, biscuits and other parked foods. PHOTO | FILE

By ARAFAT MUGABO

Some supermarkets and retail shops are selling expired products, among them yogurts, biscuits and other parked foods, Rwanda Today has can reveal.

A three-weeks mini-survey conducted by Rwanda Today in 14 supermarkets and 10 small scale retail shops found about 80 per cent of them had at least one expired product in the shelves.

Among goods found with expired dates are yogurts, biscuits, salmon fish, pizza crust, milk, cottage cheese, cookies and packed juice.

The survey was conducted after talking to people from different parts of Kigali claiming they were finding goods in the supermarket's shelves with outdated fleshiness dates.

“I was very annoyed when I discovered that the Inyange yogurt and biscuits I bought from a shop in my residence were all expired,” said Emanuel Sindikubwabo, a resident of Kicukiro.

Sindikubwabo said mini and big supermarkets have dozens of expired merchandises on the shelves.

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“I usually don’t look at the products for expiration date but I was surprised last week when I checked on mayonnaise and infant yogurts in the fridge had expired a week before I brought them at home,” said Mr Sindikubwabo.

When Rwanda Today asked retailers who were we found selling goods with expired dates, no response was given.

“We want to ensure that there are no more outdated products on the shelf,” said Francine Bamurange at Ganza supermarket.

"It usually happens to find one or two expired products in the shop but not because we want to sell them but forget to remove them from the shelves," she said.

However, Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority (Rwanda FDA) officials, said people’s failure to regularly check expiry dates of product has given shop owners opportunities sell goods whose consumption period had expired.

“We conduct inspections frequently but we cannot be everywhere, the public should help us and inform the safety department whenever they find a shop or supermarket selling expired goods,” said Dr Alex Gisagara, Head of Food and Drugs Inspection and Safety Monitoring Department at Rwanda FDA.

“Check sell-by and use-by dates, especially on dairy items and meats. If you see an expired product in the store, tell a manager. If you’ve brought one home, consider asking for a refund. And never taste food to see if it’s spoiled,” says Dr Gisagara.

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