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CAA co-opts ITI, City Analyst in war against errant traders
The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) will seek support from the Industrial Institute of Technology (ITI) and city analyst to step-up raids on contaminated and outdated food and other items.
Raids on out dated items have been stepped up
This year so far about 8,000 raids have been conducted island-wide, according to an official of the Ministry of Cooperatives and Internal Trade. “A majority of the complaints we received were on outdated and contaminated food items. Therefore, the CAA has decided to go for laboratory tests based on samples collected, and take action if there are ingredients harmful for human consumption. Special attention would be given to food additives and harmful chemicals,” he said.
The CAA collected over Rs. 80 million last year from 60,000 raids and taken 25,117 errant traders to courts.“The number of complaints on the recent price control on rice has reached 300. With more and more complaints coming in, the CAA is making provision to offer cash rewards for reliable information on errant traders,” he added.
According to him, it will be easier to act against errant traders with laboratory reports as evidence. He said the recent raids were on contaminated sugar, chillie and turmeric powder; outdated energy drinks, imported sauces and food items such as cheese, noodles; tomato sauce and coconut oil being stored in bottles and barrels used to store chemicals and toilet disinfectants and rotten fruits being used for cordials and fruit juices.