Expiry-date tampering Parliamentarian calls for stern action

TDT | Manama

A top parliamentarian has called for stringent punishments for tampering with the expiry dates of food items and medicines that are unsafe for consumption.

To put an end to these harmful practices, which are of major concern from a public health perspective, authorities here should strengthen their market surveillance methods, said Ali Zayed, the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament.

The inspections, the Ali Zayed said, should be done in coordination with the Consumer Protection Directorate in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism and the Ministry of Interior by establishing a joint enforcement committee.

The enforcement agency should have wider powers to look into such practises throughout the country to protect consumers from unsafe products and ensure a level playing field for businesses here.

Unless strong deterrent measures are adopted, such merchants, led by their greed, would continue profiting from their illegal practices at the expense of the public health.

Al Zayed also drew the councils attention towards the latest court ruling in which suspects involved in tampering expiry dates were awarded varying jail terms of up to 5 years and fines of up to 5000 Bahraini dinars.

The court found that the suspects stocked around 80,000 expired food commodities of more than 80 brands at a warehouse in Hamala owned by one of the suspects. All of the food products were kept in a large number of cartons and were ready for redistribution in local markets with new manufacturing dates.

During the raid, officials also seized various tools, chemicals, printed labels as well as other devices used for altering the expiry dates. Ali Zayed said these products were from a single site, based on a tip-off, which also indicates the possibility of having many other sites in the Kingdom.

This is a serious situation, he said, especially when Bahrain is fighting an all-out war against Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. “We are already in an emergency health situation, and our hospitals cannot be overburdened any further with conditions emerging because of spoiled food,” Ali Zayed warned.

He called on parliamentarians to review the legislation in this regard and penalise the sale of spoiled food with stringent penalties. “Strengthening the law will act as an additional deterrent for all those who resort to playing with the health of the people here for the money.”

He also called for deporting the violators and bar them from entering the country again. Ali Zayed praised the effort of all those involved in bringing the Hamala incident to public attention and authorities.