Sale of expired goods haunts Chaisa compound residents

By Ann Zulu

RESIDENTS of Chaisa compound in Lusaka have expressed worry over the rise in number of expired goods being offered for sale by some traders to unsuspecting buyers.

The goods range from foodstuffs, body lotions, soaps and detergent pastes which have flooded the area.

                                             Expired goods

CCPC public relations officer Hanford Chaaba said the commission would make a follow-up and investigate the issue.

Mr. Chaaba warned that the commission would initiate criminal action against traders who sell expired food products in the area.

“We will carry an investigation and in a situation where we find anything, we will be able to inform the public and those found trading expired products will face punishment,” he said.

Some of the residents who had fallen prey to the vice told the Daily Nation that the situation was serious and needed urgent action.

“There are so many expired goods been sold here and people are just blindingly buying them. I just hope that the authorities will do something to stop this because there is no way people could be sold expired goods,

“This is so unacceptable in a country like Zambia which has been independent for more than 50 years,”said Marvis Mwaba, a regular customer at Chaisa market said.

She appealed to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) to look into the matter and protect consumers from buying products that were considered to be harmful.

Another customer Jack Kaliche, said many people had interest in the products because they were sold at relatively cheap prices.

“With the current economic situation, people always want cheap products and you always find many of them buying these expired products,” he said.

He noted that some women had ended up damaging their faces because of using expired body lotions.

Mwenya Musonda, who had once bought a bottle of lotion from one of the shops at the market, said the expired products were harmful.

“I remember I once bought some lotions, because I thought it was just fine, but then, later on I discovered that with time my face started changing, I had reacted badly and developed dark spots all over my face,” she said.

She advised other people in the area to be outlook and check for expiry dates when buying lotions to avoid health complications.