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Superstore fined for selling products after expiry date

DUBAI — Two customers became mildly sick after eating tinned mangoes three months past their expiry date bought from a leading supermarket in Satwa.

Dubai Municipality (DM) officials said the matter was relatively minor and has been dealt with and the supermarket chain fined.

Asif Azzudin bought a tin of sliced mangoes from the store last Friday afternoon. He had just finished eating the fruit and accidentally noticed the expiry date as he was about to throw away the can.

“I was worried,” he said, adding “I got stomach pains that night. I was dizzy and I didn’t go to office the next day.”

Mohammed Iqbal Ehmed experienced similar symptoms after he ate part of a tin of mangoes bought from the same store on Saturday, again with an expiry date of April 2007.

However neither felt they needed to seek medical attention.

Both informed the store of their experience and Azzudin took the further step of reporting it to DM and demanding a compensation from the store.

DM Health Section assistant director and head of food control Khalid Sharif said current laws detailed that for each item found past its expiry date, a fine of Dhs 1,000 would be imposed against the company.

“We investigate the complaint and if it is true, the company is fined accordingly because we take all such matters very seriously,” he said.

Meanwhile, a DM inspector said the expired products, less than five products, were believed to have been placed on the shelves through the mistake of a store employee and the store was fined accordingly. However, all the expired products were immediately removed from the shelves following the complaint.