Health inspectors raid supermarket

Around 10.30 am yesterday, a team of officers led by Food and Safety Public Health Inspector (III) Jennifer Cupid, entered the supermarket and began examining food items.

Tins of baby milk, cereal, peas and carrots, sardines, mackerel, cooking spray, biscuits, packets of ground coffee and popcorn were among the items removed from off the shelves. Speaking to Newsday at the end of the three-hour exercise, Cupid however said that the grocery had complied with several of the guidelines outlined to it last year. Cupid said: “The general standard of the grocery had been upgraded.

“The warehouse was stacked properly and the freezers and chillers were working properly. Improvements need to be done in the area of general housekeeping.”

Cupid explained that the food items taken off the shelves would not be seized, but returned to distributors because they were not found to be contaminated. Noting that it was a grocery manager’s responsibility not to accept faulty items from distributors, Cupid pointed out that customers must also carefully examine all food items when making a purchase.

On Wednesday, the officers were forced to shut down a Chinese restaurant in San Fernando after customers refused to stop ordering meals although they were informed that the restaurant was operating under unsanitary conditions.

Last year the restaurant was instructed to improve its surroundings, but failed to comply.