“Evaporated filled milk” harmful to children under two years and should be properly labelled

Last Updated on Thursday, 15 October 2015, 19:40 by GxMedia

The Government Analyst- Food and Drug Department on Thursday warned Guyanese against purchasing “evaporated filled milk” because it is not good for children and more so if the label does not state that it is “not suitable for childrend under two years.”

“Such a disclaimer is necessary because the digestive system of children is not sufficiently developed to process its content and this amount to a very serious public health issue.,” says the Food and Drug Department.

The Analyst Department says evaporated filled milk cannot depict a cow.

Following is the warning from the The Government Analyst- Food and Drug Department

The Government Analyst –Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD) wishes to advice the general public against the sale and purchase of misleading (deceptive) brands of Evaporated Milk and Evaporated Filled Milk that are being sold on our local market.

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, stabilizers and vitamins. The label on the Evaporated Filled Milk cannot depict a pictorial representation of a Cow and must carry a disclaimer “Not suitable for Children under 2 years”.  Such a disclaimer is necessary because the digestive system of children is not sufficiently developed to process its content and this amount to a very serious public health issue.

Part II (6) 1 of the Food and Drug Act Cap 34:03 of 1971 states that “ Any person who labels, packages, treats, processes, sells or advertises any food in a manner that is false, misleading or deceptive or is likely to create an erroneous impression regarding its character, value, quality, composition, merit or safety is guilty of an offence”.

The Department has recently seized and removed from premises nine hundred and nine (909) cans of evaporated filled milk with deceptive labels, while sixteen thousand three hundred and twenty six (16,326) cans were seized and left on premises. In some cases, the content of milk fat declared on the label was only three 3 %, with no disclaimer and a pictorial representation of a cow. In addition, a (1×20) foot container of Global brand Evaporated Filled Milk was recently Refused Entry at the John Fernandes Limited Terminal Wharf    because the labels were deceptive.

Some of the brands seized are as follow:

·         Promex Milko Evaporated Filled Milk

·         Tinny Evaporated Filled Milk

·         Rosa Evaporated Filled Milk

·         G.I.V Evaporated Filled Milk

·         Grace Filled Evaporated Milk

·         Big J Evaporated Filled Milk

·         Red and White Evaporated Milk

The members of the Nationals Food Safety and Control Committee from the all regions in Guyana were briefed on this issue and were advised to take the necessary action against the deceptive products.  The department is hereby informing all Importers and Distributors to recall deceptively labelled milk and to surrender same to the Department for  destruction.

For additional information kindly contact the GA-FDD on 222-8859, 222-8857 or 222-8856.