Consumer Commission warns of repackaged grocery items
The National Consumer Commission is urging consumers to be extra cautious when buying repackaged edible grocery items.
It says it noticed a disturbing trend during a National Consumer Day tour of shops in North West.
While it hasn't received any formal complaints yet, the commission's Phetho Ntaba says they found that goods, which are normally sold in clear packets, were not packaged properly and didn't have correct the food labels and expiry dates on them.
"Small retailers and spaza shops are repackaging foodstuff. We are talking about flour, sugar, and bread as well and they are also reprocessing food.
"You would buy your 2kg polony and then they reprocess that food into a sandwich or something else."
Ntaba says this makes it difficult for them to follow up on an issue if they need to recall a food item.
READ: Verulam spaza owner arrested for selling expired food
"Our concern as the National Consumer Commission is that if some of the establishments are not hygienically clean, or most importantly to the (Consumer) Act is the relabelling of those particular goods."
Health inspectors in eThekwini arrested a tuck shop owner in Verulam earlier this year for selling expired food dating back to 2020.
