The Government Analyst – Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD) would like to advise the general public and importers of food that during the month of January, four containers with Evaporated Milk, Condensed Milk and/or Sweetened Condense Milk were “Refused Entry” into Guyana.
According to Marlan Cole, Director of the Food and Drug Department, these milk were ‘refused entry’ because they are non-complaint with the prescribe standard for Evaporated Milk, Condense Milk and /or Sweetened Condense Milk as found in regulations 13 & 14 Division # (5) of the Food and Drug Regulations 1977 and the International Food Standard Codex STD for milk fat products (CODEX STAN 280-1973) Codex Alimentarius.
He said in all cases milk fat was substituted with various forms of vegetable fat. This action, he said, was made possible because of unprecedented support and cooperation received from the Guyana Revenue Authority (Customs Department).
Cole said the brands refused entry into Guyana were:
* Best Liat Sweetened Condense Milk
* Global Sweetened Condensed Milk
* Tastu Evaporated Creamer
According to the prescribe standard, Evaporated Milk shall contain no less than 25.0% milk solids and 7.5 % milk fat, while Condense Milk or Sweetened Condense Milk shall contain no less than 28.0% milk solids and 8.0% milk fat.
The Department is advising food importers to ensure that when importing milk for sale on our local market, they must be in compliance with the prescribe standards of Guyana’s Food and Drug Regulation or that of the International Food Standard Codex Alimentarius.
Who are the manufacturer of these products? Are these products proven to caused harm when consumed? Has any International Food And Drug Administration Department condemned the use of these products due to the fact that it has proven that these products caused harm when consumed in the past? Are these products not safe for human consumption? If these products does not fall into any of these categories there is no transparent/democratic reason why these products should refused entry. Time has changed and different individuals have different dietary needs due to various factors . It could be preferences, socioeconomic, or even medical reasons. Also the economy has changed and in a democratic society people should have the right to choose what they want to eat or drink.
These products are not classified toxic or harmful substances or caused harm to anyone when ingested and as such I concluded that this is either a Commercial Scam or pure Backwardsness.
Good work.Keep it up and increase your vigilance.You no longer have to worry about who toes you mash.Please tell us who the importer/s were, so the public, can be warned when doing business with them.They don’t care about us, so why should we buy their products.
Names should be provided.