In the wake of last week’s disclosure by the Government Analyst Food and Drugs Department that a brand of evaporated milk imported into Guyana had been (apparently deliberately) mislabeled and that its vegetable content was harmful to young children, Stabroek Business has been informed that the continued proliferation of various brands of imported foods and other items by local distributors is placing the regulatory agency under increasing monitoring pressure and that some brands are finding their way onto the local market without complying with the importation-related regulations.
FDD Director Marlon Cole had suggested in a conversation with this newspaper that the mislabeling of milk products was nothing new and that it had been linked to international profiteering rackets in which manufacturers sought to gain from targeting particular countries with cheaper milk products boasting nutrition-related ingredients which they did not have. Stabroek Business understands that some of these milk products were indeed finding their way into Guyana and last week we reported that some brands of milk that had been imported into Guyana had come under the FDD’s radar. Cole has repeatedly said that weak institutional oversight, including port of entry inspection limitations rendered Guyana vulnerable to suspect imports.
As of earlier this week the department was still holding another consignment of questionable milk at a
