Inspectorate VSA makes stipulations for supermarkets, grocery stores.

GREAT BAY (GIS)—The Inspectorate Department of Public Health, Social Welfare and Labor is intensifying their controls with regards to the labeling of food products.

The managers and owners of all Supermarkets, Grocery stores, Bakeries, Distributors and any other food outlets, should be aware of the law, stipulated as: Landsbesluit, Houdende Algemene Maatregelen, of the 18th of January 2005, Article 3 (1 a, f and j) of the Commodities Act, P.B. 1997 Nr. 334.

According to the department, the law states that all food products must have an expiration date and be labeled correctly. That includes all meat, dairy and seafood produce.

Products can become unsafe for human consumption very quickly, if not handled and dated correctly. After assessing the risk related to this activity, the Inspectorate Department of Public Health, Social Welfare and Labor have given labeling the highest priority of controls for 2010.

The managers and owners are advised to pay attention to the following;

All Chilled, Fresh and Frozen meats, poultry, fish and their products when packed and displayed for sale MUST have an expiration date.
All goods for sale MUST have a proper label.
All goods for sale MUST have labels indicating their ingredients printed on them.
Breads and pastries from local bakeries MUST have labels indicating, the bakery at which they were produced, the type of bakery products e.g. whole wheat bread, whole wheat salt free bread, etc., and the date on which the item was produced.

If you are not in compliance with the above mentioned laws, corrective measures will be taken, starting with the confiscation of goods.

The measure goes into effect February 10, 2010.

Set as favorite

Bookmark

Email This

8 Comments



It's about time February 09, 2010 72.252.9.50 Votes: +1	This is a good start in the right direction I applaud this measure being implemented report abuse vote down vote up


agree February 09, 2010 200.7.60.240 Votes: +0	I fully agree with this decision. It's about time that the grocery stores and distributors of seafood, bread,and other products packaged on the island have labels indicating the ingredients. Go to S food and others and you will see fish and other meat and poultry products without any indication of when the items was packaged and no expiration date. We have been purchasing items for years without gredience. Now let's look at ground beef simply packed in plastic bags, now we will know what kind of meat is in the bag, because ground beef could contain a lot of left overs. This is really good move. Hopefully we can make some more healthy choices. Now if we only get the relevant controls. report abuse vote down vote up


nice February 10, 2010 72.252.9.58 Votes: +0	I wonder, who will do the controles! ?? we dont controle now, why would they start today? report abuse vote down vote up


controler walking February 10, 2010 72.252.9.58 Votes: +0	Iam so glad that they started this, Many times you would go in a s-market and pick up stuff that dont have any expiration date. We have to look out for also for these s-market can scratch of the expiration date and put on their own. Iam afraid to buy meat from these s-market. Check when you going to buy chicken, the frozzz bite is eating the chicken before you self can put this into your mouth (nasty). I think also these s-market need to get there stuff cool as soon as the containers come in cause don't forget sxm is a hot place and while it is sitting in the container that is not cooling properly, everything melting and by time they put it in the s-market the meat or others is mashy and looking very disgusting. These controlers have a big job cut out for them. And I think the best way is that the people can also keep control. If you see or buy any thing that look bad or out of order tell the health department about it. ...............For the one them incharge can we have a hotline number where the people can report these cases. report abuse vote down vote up


Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, February 10, 2010 190.102.4.251 Votes: +0	Try Triple D in Simpson Bay. They got SEWERAGE running out of thier building, never mind sell by dates. report abuse vote down vote up


Concerned citizen February 10, 2010 72.252.13.63 Votes: +0	Better late than never. I applaud the move. I hope a plan is in place where this will be done continuously. Business people will see,understand and respect that we do have control on this island. Just remember, the lost that will come with the confiscating of goods may result in prices being raised. Control needs to be address in that area as well. report abuse vote down vote up


SXM time.. February 10, 2010 81.37.234.162 Votes: +0	Only took 5 years to enforce it here, lol. We on a roll! report abuse vote down vote up


shopper February 11, 2010 72.252.9.52 Votes: +0	I hope they also control Sang Supermarket they seem to have a problem with their Freezers as the fresh chicken they have on their shelves smells very bad and this is a health hazard report abuse vote down vote up

Write comment

This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comment.

< Prev		Next >

St. Martin News Network

Inspectorate VSA makes stipulations for supermarkets, grocery stores.