Consumer Alert: Expired Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer chocolate bars being sold

The Government Analyst- Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD) is alerting consumers of the circulation of expired Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer chocolate bars that were expired on March 31, 2016.

The department says the shelf life of this product is being “deliberately and fraudulently extended,” where it is being removed from its original package and placed into a transparent package of 8 bars and a sticker is affixed with the extended expiry date of February 28, 2017.

The Department says it received several complaints from members of the general public of this practice that is being perpetuated by a particular importer.  A visit was made to his premises on June 22, 2016, where this fraudulent act is suspected of being conducted against unsuspecting consumers.  During the visit, twelve cases (12 cases x 20 packs x 8pcs x 80g) were seized and removed from his premises.

Legal proceedings are currently being initiated against this Importer with support from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Checks were also made around the City and several other locations where twenty-four (24) packs of the expired product were seized and removed from those premises. The Department has alerted Officers (Inspectors) at the recently hosted National Food Safety and Control Committee meeting on July 12, 2016 and similar actions are expected to be taken against this product by Officers in outlying regions.

The Department is alerting consumers about Tunnock’s 8 pack caramel bars in its original packets that carry the barcode #: 5010975070095 which is affected similarly but this time, the expiry date is erased and a sticker with a new expiry (shelf life extended by two years: 14/12/2017) is neatly overlaid on the area where the expiry date was.

Consumers are being advised to purchase only sealed 4 bar pack of Tunnock’s caramel.