Food and Drug Department loses “fake milk” court case

− vows to appeal ruling

Following its seizure of a number of supposedly fake evaporated milk products in October of last year, the Government Analyst-Food and Drug Department (GAFDD) lost its court case as the matter was dismissed by presiding Magistrate Annette Singh.

In Court 11 of the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday, Magistrate Singh ruled that there was not enough evidence to validate the determination that the milk was indeed substandard and non-compliant with the stipulations of the GAFDD.

This ruling did not sit well with GAFDD’s Director Marlan Cole as he signalled his organisation’s intention to appeal the case. Cole in court expressed the view that the threat which the product posed on persons’ health was not considered. He however conceded that his officers need to be more equipped with the necessary training in bringing matters of such nature to court.

Cole opined that the GAFDD will be hindered in executing its mandate to ensure that food products which can be “injurious to public health,” misleading and/or deceptive would not be available on the market. The director also pointed out that the label on the evaporated milk cannot show a pictorial representation of a cow and it must carry a disclaimer which says: “Not suitable for children under two years.”

In October 2015, the GAFDD has issued a warning to the public, against the sale and purchase of what it described as misleading brands of evaporated milk and evaporated filled milk that were being sold at local markets.

Coupled with the warning, the department had also seized 909 cans of the said fake milk products which had included: Promex Milko Evaporated Filled Milk, Tinny Evaporated Filled Milk, Rosa Evaporated Filled Milk, GIV Evaporated Milk, Grace Filled Evaporated Milk, Big J Evaporated Milk and Red and White Evaporated Milk.

Evaporated milk is a milk, or milk product which is constituted from animal source from which 60% of water has been evaporated, and contains not less than 25% of milk solids and 7.5% milk fat, and may carry a pictorial representation of a cow, while Evaporated Filled Milk is a prepared blend of skim milk, vegetable oil, stabilisers and vitamins.

At that time it was observed that in some cases, the content of milk fat which was declared on the label was only three per cent and the cans bore no disclaimer but included a pictorial representation of a cow, which the department said should be removed. It is not yet clear when the department will appeal Magistrate Singh’s ruling.