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Beware! Outdated chocolates re-entering the market
View(s):Chocolate lovers need to check twice their favourite international brands before buying as recent raids reveal outdated chocolates imported from India are introduced into the market with new labels or end up as chocolate delights, officials said.Large stocks of outdated chocolates with a market value of Rs. 100 million were seized from a warehouse in Seeduwa on Friday.
The Consumer Affairs Authority’s Gampaha district chief Ranjith Weerawardena said they found 30,000 kilograms of chocolates which had become outdated more than one year ago. “The stocks had been imported from India and were being relabelled at the warehouse. There were more than 5,000 packs with each containing about six kilograms of chocolate,” he said.
Last week, CAA officials detected Rs. 3 million worth of outdated artificial flavours at a coffee franchise in Colombo 2, Trade Ministry spokesman Nipuna Ekanayake said. In December last year, a chocolate shop located at Colombo 7 was sealed by Public Health Inspectors for storing and selling outdated chocolates. The stocks had been imported from India 10 months after they had become outdated, officials said. – NF