By Landing Ceesay
Gambians have frequently expressed concerns on social media about the circulation of expired food items in the country’s markets.
Several incidents involving viral photos and videos of alleged expired products have sparked public outrage and alarm.
Consuming expired food is a serious health risk, with research indicating it can lead to food poisoning, causing symptoms like nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and fever. In extreme cases, it can result in hospitalization or even death.
Dr. Ousman Gajigo, an economist and social commentator, is the latest to raise concerns about expired food items, specifically those found in a supermarket located along Kairaba Avenue.
Kerr Fatou spoke with Dr. Gajigo to learn more about his experience with the management of Discount Center Supermarket. Dr. Gajigo then recounted the details of his interaction with the supermarket’s management.
“What happened two days ago is that my wife and I went to buy breakfast cereal at Discount Center, a supermarket along Kairaba Avenue. We bought several of them (Cereal), almost six of them, and these were expensive. They are meant for my children’s breakfast. When we bought them (cereal), I looked at the expiry dates, and the expiry dates were 2025, so I went home with them. But the moment the kids opened them, they started smelling. That was when they realized that even though the expiry date was 2025, that paper was placed on the real expiry date.
” We realized that all these cereals expired months ago. But the supermarket put a new date, wrote 2025 and placed it on the real expiry date to fool people. So anyone who bought them will think that they are still good when they have expired several months ago. So I went back to the shop and asked them what was responsible for that. They told me that they were not aware of it and that maybe one of their employees was responsible for it. I asked them how an employee could do that and put a false expiry date on them. That was the time they knew that I knew what was happening,” Dr. Gajigo told Kerr Fatou.
Dr. Gajigo stated that he informed the management of Discount Center Supermarket that he would not remain silent about the incident and intended to make it public.
He shared that he had purchased the cereal for his children, who are between the ages of 2 and 6.
Dr. Gajigo emphasized that the issue extended beyond mere business concerns.
“I told them that this is about the health of the people. Because it could affect the children who eat them. I told them that anything that has expired until it smells should not be in the market for business,” he said.
The Food Safety and Quality Authority of the Gambia (FSQA) is the sole national authority responsible for regulating the safety and quality of food and animal feed in the country, including imports and exports.
When asked if he had reported the incident to the FSQA, Dr Gajigo confirmed that he had, and he shared his discussions with the authorities with Kerr Fatou.
“That was the time I went to the Food Safety and Quality Authority (FSQA) to report the matter there. FSQA told me that when they went there, they found expired food items there and seized them. They said when their inspection team did their job and wrote their report, they would take it to their enforcement unit. The enforcement unit will be the ones who will prepare a recommendation on whether they will take legal action against the supermarket or not.
“But when I contacted people about this matter, what I realized is that it is not only Discount Center that is doing it, I heard a lot of supermarkets are doing it. If you see why this is happening, the enforcement that should be done when a businessman sells expired food items is not happening. That’s why we have this kind of act happening in the country. If the enforcement is not done, the supermarkets in the country will continue doing this over and over again. This is a very serious matter because when a food item expires, its consequences are very serious,” he said.
Dr. Gajigo believes that this could affect everyone and urged the Gambian citizens to follow up the matter and pressure the government so that what the FSQA should do is done. He said this act of falsifying expiry dates should not continue in the Gambia.
Regarding his next steps if the authorities fail to act, Dr. Gajigo stated that he would not hesitate to pursue legal action to protect Gambian citizens from the dangers of expired food products.
“The first step I will do is to continue what I am doing by publicizing this matter. so that everyone will know. This is not for only a few individuals. Because the food items in people’s shops are many now. When people hear that this is happening, it might transfer to other goods. I will publicize for people to know this problem has been going on for far too long. The reason these people have the confidence to do this is that they know that nothing will come out of it.
“People should know about this matter and take action. We should pressure the government so that they can do what they should. So that anyone who did this kind of act, will never repeat it. After that, if I know that the government is not going to do anything about this, as they should, I will follow up on this matter up to the end. Even if I will take legal action, I will do it. Because I am not doing this for myself alone. This is not affecting only one person, it is affecting everyone in the country. I am hoping that it will not reach legal action and that the government will do something about it. But I will continue publicizing this matter,” Dr. Gajigo further told Kerr Fatou.
Dr. Gajigo then advised Gambians to pay attention to the expiry date of every food item they bought from shops before using them.
“The more people put pressure on the business committee, the more they will realize that what they are doing is not right. For anything you are buying, you should check it properly, especially the expiry date. You should also check whether the expiry is replaced by a false one. Because it is on the carton that the expiry date is printed on. It should not be written on a different paper and pasted on the carton. If you detect any abnormality on the expiry date, report the matter to FSQA,” he said.
Kerr Fatou has learned from reliable sources that members of the FSQA inspected the supermarket and found expired food items. However, FSQA representatives were unavailable for comment at the time of publication.
Attempts to reach the supermarket for their response were unsuccessful, as they declined to comment.