GOVERNMENT has appointed a team to oversee the production and distribution of food products as it moves to protect consumers against the influx of expired and counterfeit products on the market.
Reports indicate that most of the products are found in tuckshops dotted around the central business districts of the country.
On Wednesday, Health and Child Care minister Douglas Mombeshora appointed a 16-member Food Standards Advisory Board.
Mombeshora said the mandate of the board was provided under the Food and Food Standards Act [Chapter 15:04] which was promulgated in 1971.
“The purpose of the Act is to provide for the sale, importation for sale of food in a pure state; to prohibit the sale, importation and manufacture for sale of food which is falsely described; and to provide for the fixing of standards relating to food and matters incidental hereto,” he said.
Mombeshora said the board’s tenure commenced on March 11 this year running up to March 2027.
“It is, therefore, important that you work closely with other government departments to make sure that our consumers are not exposed to unsafe food and our farmers and food manufacturers can export foods to earn the much needed foreign currency,” he said.
“You must also participate actively and effectively in the international food standards setting activities of CODEX, World Trade Organisation Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures [WTO SPS committee], African Organisation for Standardisation and International Organisation for Standardisation to keep up with international food safety standards requirements.”
In May, over a thousand businesses were charged with selling expired and underweight goods, among other various offences, according to the Industry and Commerce ministry.
According to the ministry, most of the semi-formal shops were fined for various offences that fall under the Consumer Protection Act.
In May alone, the ministry inspected 5 104 products for weights and measurements and issued 11 030 penalties for non-compliant products.