EMTV Online recently noticed a food product being sold in a particular shop in Port Moresby, past its expiry dates.
Sold under the label ‘MAY PROMO’, the K14.00 Black and Gold 2 Littre Orange juice was sold so cheap at K2, but its best-before date is February 18, 2017. That dates back to over three and half months.
This could be an overlooked by the management, shop supervisors or their line officers; however, this is an example of obstruction of command from a Health Inspector earlier this year.
In January 2017, senior environmental health officer Matthew Laba, who is one of the three health inspectors with the National Capital District Commission, highlighted the need to maintain health standards, especially with food and urged general public to report shops that sell overdue food products.
The sales assistant who only identified himself as Philemon told EMTV Online they do regular checks on the products and inform their supervisors before the products are deemed not fit for consumption.
“One or two months before the products expire, we inform our supervisors who bring it to the attention of the management,” explained Philemon.
According to Philemon, all short-dated items are collected, repriced and sold on marked down prices.
It was noticed that the expiration dates on the entire Black and Gold Orange juice products on the shelves were forcefully cleared.
When asked whether the management allow them to sell food products beyond the expiration dates, Philemon admitted that often the management keeps the products on the shelves.
Despite warnings from Health Authorities, few shops in Port Moresby continue to sell food items that have already went past their best-before dates.
Most times, people do not consider the expiration dates on food products when going shopping, thus they run the risk for serious food poisoning.
