Health inspectors raid Choppies for expired yoghurts

LAWRENCE SERETSE
Correspondent | Friday June 7, 2013 00:00

A team of public health officers swung into action when a nauseous customer barged in their office showing them containers of expired yoghurts he drank and the receipts. The health officers went to the store and confiscated a number of yoghurts that were alleged to have May 17, 2013 expiry dates.

The health officers told Mmegi there was no need to test the yoghurts as it was clearly written on the containers that they had expired weeks ago. 'The yoghurts had on them May 17 expiry date clearly written, we raided on May 30, they were still on the shelves and customers were buying them unawares; so we had to confiscate the condemned yoghurts,' one of the officers said.

The customer, Goodwill Nkoni, has shown Mmegi the yoghurts and the purchase receipt of the Choppies store at Rail Park Mall.Nkoni said that he bought the yoghurts on May 30 but discovered that there was something wrong when he started having stomach pains after drinking them. 'When I was eating the second yoghurt, I started having a funny and painful stomach reaction, that's when I realised that the two products had reached their expiry dates. On the side of one of the containers the best before date is 17-5-13. I crosschecked the products with my friends to establish that they were indeed expired,' he explained.

Nkoni told Mmegi that he quickly went to a doctor and was given medication after being diagnosed with gastroenteritis and mild dehydration. He then reported the matter to the public health officers. 'The following day I lodged my complaint with the Rail Park Choppies store manager, Johannes Motswasele who told me to direct my complaints to Clover,' he said.

When contacted, Motswasele informed Mmegi that the public health officers had raided and confiscated the yoghurts at the store. He said that a printing error by the manufacturers, Clover has led to the confusion. 'There was no assistance we could offer him, we referred him to Clover for clarifications on the products,' he said.

Clover's commercial manager, Hank Lewis, told Mmegi he was aware of the matter and had been in contact with the complainant. He said there was a printing mistake with the yoghurts, which made the numbers to look like they were expired. 'The yoghurt was not expired, the printing was not done properly so it looks like it had expired,' he explained.

He said that the complainant blamed the yoghurts for getting sick because of the misprint. 'All of a sudden he eats something, he feels sick then he suspects our products. I can prove they were not expired,' Lewis said.  He told Mmegi that he had called the public health people to come and check the products but they never showed up. 

Nkoni said that Lewis called him a number of times, asking him to come to Clover and discuss the issue but he never showed up because of his sickness. 'It has left me traumatised and I suffered like someone who ate from the rubbish can I have no time to go there right now,' Nkoni said.

But Lewis said that he actually wanted to offer Nkoni a huge wedding present for his brother who is getting married this weekend. 'I did not want to buy him or anything. I heard him say his brother was getting married, so I just wanted to offer him a huge present in return,' Lewis said to explain why he called Nkoni many times. Mmegi forwarded a questionnaire about the incident to Choppies public relations officer, Otsile Marole. He confirmed receiving the questionnaire but never acted on it.

Gastroenteritis is the inflammation of the stomach and small and large intestines caused by a variety of viruses that results in vomiting or diarrhoea. It is caused by many viruses. These include rotaviruses; noroviruses; adenoviruses, types 40 and 41; sapoviruses; and astroviruses. Eating or drinking contaminated foods or beverages may also cause gastroenteritis.