Inspectors in the Ministry of Health health in Choma have seized hundreds packs of unpasteurized fresh milk from several retail outlets in the town contrary to the provisions of the law.
The Health Inspectors, accompanied by Choma Municipal Council police, swung into action last evening and confiscated the milk sachets labbled ‘Moomba dairies’ from Spar Choma and some other retails shops in the town centre.
The milk was described as a health hazard to the unsuspecting consumers of not being pasteurized as per law but had kept supplying the product to the local market thereby exposing the public to dangers of consuming untreated milk.
The seized product had the label rading ‘pasteurized milk’ although some of the sachets had this inscription crossed out by some one using a marker.
Some samples of the seized products have been taken to the Food and Drugs Laboratory in Lusaka for analysis, after which prosecution will be commenced.
Moomba farm dairies was found to have violated the Food and Drugs Act Cap 303 of the laws of Zambia by allowing its employees who do not possess valid medical certificates for food handlers to milk cows.
The team of Heath Inspectors will on Monday apply to the Choma magistrate courts for the disposal of the seized products in line with the provisions of the law.
This action follows a fact finding mission at Moomba farm dairies on Thursday by the Health Inspectors led by Chief Macha in his capacity as Chairperson of the District Joint Monitoring Team on Sanitation, accompanied by Choma Mayor, Tenson Hajongola.
The visit undertaken as part of the ongoing five-day workshop on legal enforcement of food laws sponsored by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), revealed some violations of the law in the processing of milk.
During the visit, Farm Manager, Lawrence Muletele informed chief Macha and his team that the milk processing plant stopped pasteurizing milk in February this year after its pasteurizing machine broke down.
Mr. Muletele said the machine which had been sent to South Africa for repair had not yet come back into the country, forcing the plant to supply most of its milk to Parmalat Zambia for pasteurizing.
“For now I should say that, on our sachets for fresh milk, we are crossing out the writing ‘pasteurized milk’ using a marker advising consumers that we are not treating this milk. However for sour milk, it passes through that small pasteurizing equipment and therefore it is treated,” he explained.
And, the Ministry of Health in Choma has officially written to Moomba farm dairies, instructing that no untreated milk should be sold to the public, until the pasteurizing machine becomes functional, as doing so is in violation of the Food and Drugs Act Cap 303 of the laws of Zambia.
Meanwhile, the Health Inspectors have further seized some expired food productions from Spar Choma, following an inspection undertaken at the trading premises.
Southern Province UNICEF Monitoring Officer, Leonard Mukosha said the UN agency will provide capacity building to support Choma district in strengthening the enforcement of the food laws by health inspectors.
Mr. Mukosha told the workshop that was also attended by all the five chiefs and civic leaders in Southern Province that lack of enforcement of public health is a source of various diseases that the public is exposed to.
ZANIS
Its really frustrating at how businesses in Zed take their consumers for granted.This manager Mr Muletele has the audacity to say they are crossing out the word pasteurised with a marker to advise consumers that the milk is unpasteurised. What kind of nonsense is this? If your milk pasteurising machine broke down in February, then why don’t they just change the packaging to read ‘unpasteurised milk’. I hope after everything they close down this milk plant until they get it together.
No standards in Zed. Wat do these bizness pipo take us 4?
#2 Henry Kapoko, it’s ourselves to blame becoz when for example GRZ wants to rid roads of vendors – some so selfish to even sell fish which has been embalmed with fomalin – some of our political leaders help vendors stay on the roads by making statements that seem to show that GRZ doesn’t care by pushing people off the streets. So others take advantage by just improving on packaging yet contents may be rotten as is the case with pieces of chicken, or unpastuerised milk because for them they’re better off than those selling embalmed fish thus taking adavantage by riding on the backing of politicians. So for as long as we have rogue dealers who have the backing of misguided politicians what more do you expect? The standards are so low in almost everything marketed, mapwelekete yekayeka
Well done ministry of health.By so doing you have safeguarded lives of many final consumers!
This is very irresponsible of the Farm producing the milk. Among other health problems, unpasteurized milk is detrimental to a woman’s reproductive health.
They need to prosecute the whole supply chain not just the farmer. At the end of the day had Spar refused to purchase this unpasteurized milk then it wouldn’t have found itself on the market. We need a vibrant trading standards agency in Zambia to stop this “Gon’ga” mentality sweeping through the country.