The recovery of 49 expired tetra packs of condensed milk from the canteen of a prominent city school is an indicator of the prevalence of the malpractice wherein shopkeepers become greedy enough to store items even after the date of expiry and deceive vulnerable consumers.Although the findings of the samples collected by the Health department team from the canteen of Sacred Heart Convent Senior Secondary School are yet to come out after the laboratory tests, the Health department said such drives will be intensified to tighten noose on defaulters.According to information, the expiry date on the packs kept in the school canteen had ended in October - the manufacturing date read April, 5, 6 and 26 on the packs and the instructions further read that it was fit for consumption within 180 days of the date of manufacturing.Some city residents also rued that many-a-time shopkeepers have sold them such food items that had long expired as per the instructions on them. “Some shopkeepers deliberately store such items even after the date of expiry and also succeed in selling them. A few days ago, a shopkeeper sold me a packet of bread that had expired a day ago. But I got to know only when I reached home. So I could not do anything about it,” said a city resident.However, Harjot Singh, food inspector in the Health department said that storing such items for the purpose of sale is an offence and is punishable under Section 7/16 of the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act. “Some shopkeepers are greedy and want to make money even out of the food items that have become outdated for consumption. That is an offence and people who come across such practice by shopkeepers should inform us so that action can be taken against them,” Singh said.He added, “If the shopkeeper is keeping such items on display, as in this case, it is clear that they are meant for sale, which also constitutes an offence. It is mostly the bottles of juice, tomato sauce, or garam masala or even vanaspati oil that shopkeepers keep on display for the purpose of sale even after its date of expiry. The consumers should check the dates of manufacturing and expiry while buying such material.”
