Discovery made at Portmore wholesale

SHANICE WATSON, STAR Writer

A popular wholesale in Portmore, St Catherine, has been selling expired products to unsuspecting customers, under the guise that they are offering 'specials'.

The business place is located on the Destiny Mall Plaza. THE WEEKEND STAR was contacted by a disgruntled customer, who said she went to order a product in the wholesale which has multiple branches in Kingston.

"I told them I wanted a toothpaste and they informed me that they have a special where I can buy a toothpaste and a laundry soap together at a discounted price, so I agreed to take the offer," the customer said.

Upon inspecting the items, the woman noticed the laundry soap carried an expired date of November 2012, and the toothpaste expired in August 2015.

A member of our news team visited the store and enquired about the same 'special'. The cashier replied, "That special has ended, you know, but luckily, we still have one left."

Upon inspecting the items, our news team observed the same expiration dates mentioned by the disgruntled customer.

A toddler feed was also being offered on special with a 'use by' date of October 1, the same day the items were bought.

The assistant manager at the branch said she was aware that the products were being sold and said the cashiers were advised to inform customers they are being offered at reduced cost due to their expiration dates.

However, no warning was given when our news team order was made.

The manager also said: "I knew the laundry soap was expired, but I didn't know it was illegal to sell expired soap."

She said she intends to remove the baby feed. "It's baby food and we can't have that go over the date, we don't play with baby food."

Head of the Consumer Affairs Commission, Dorothy Campbell, is imploring consumers to be vigilant and protect their rights to fresh products.

"We try to educate customers not to give up your rights, simply because you are being offered something at a reduced cost because it's just not worth it," she said.

"You don't want to take risks with chemicals and household cleaners because you don't know what reaction they will have on you."

Executive Director of the Bureau of Standards, Yvonne Hall, said in such circumstances, the establishment would be asked to remove the expired items from the shelves.