FOOD CONTROL REGULATION NOT EFFECTIVELY ENFORCED

The country’s Pure Food (Food Control) Regulation is not being enforced effectively.

Chief Inspector of the Honiara City Council’s Health promotion Division, George Titiulu said this is why shops in the country are flooded with expired products and having no proper labeling and packaging.

The Pure Food (Food Control) Regulations came into effect in 2010, dealing with a variety of matters relating to food quality and food hygiene.

The matters regulated includes, food importation and sale, packaging and labeling, compliance with standards of the Codex Alimentarius, food additives and foreign substances in food.

But the country has continued to witness an increase in expired products sold in shops and those with improper labeling and packaging.

Mr. Titiulu says the Port of entry’s authorities, the Customs Department and the National Food Unit within the Ministry of Health, are not effectively enforcing the regulation.

“Whilst we’re trying to liaise with other sectors like the customs at the Ports of entry and the National Food Unit at the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, we are trying to see what mechanisms are there that we can use to control the type of foods coming into the country.”

Mr. Titiulu says they are currently disposing of products that do not have proper labeling and packaging from the shops in Honiara.