FOOD PRODUCTS (Display of expiry dates)

Mr Chin Harn Tong asked the Minister for the Environment (a) whether all canned, bottled or packaged foodstuffs sold for consumption are required to show clearly and correctly their expiry dates and (b) where this requirement applies, what are the steps taken by his Ministry to enforce this requirement and penalise offenders.

Dr Ahmad Mattar: Mr Speaker, Sir, not all canned, bottled or packaged food are required to display their expiry dates. The Sale of Food Act now requires 16 groups of food products to have date-marks. These are food products which either have short shelf-lives or can easily deteriorate in quality. They include all infants' food, milk, milk products, fruit and vegetable juices. My Ministry regularly examines the need of date-marking for other food products.

Some manufacturers also display the expiry dates of other food products even though this is not a requirement. Though my Ministry does not impose the date-marking requirement on these products because they have longer shelf-lives and do not spoil easily, we welcome such voluntary date-marking.

Retail outlets are regularly inspected to ensure that the 16 food products properly display their expiry dates. Our inspectors also look out for all food products that carry expired dates.

In 1991, Sir, there were 12 convictions against failures to display date-marks and 129 convictions against sale of expired food. The fines ranged between $300 and $2,000.

Mr Chin Harn Tong: Sir, I have two supplementary questions for the Minister. Firstly, is it an offence to give away foodstuffs that have passed the expiry date? Secondly, how do companies dispose of food products that have passed the expiry date?

Dr Ahmad Mattar: Mr Speaker, Sir, under the Food Regulations, it is an offence to give food unfit for consumption as a prize or as a reward or for the purpose of advertisement. But we cannot prosecute a company for giving away expired food items as an outright gift. Charitable organisations are therefore advised not to receive food that carries an expired date-mark. If they are in doubt, consult my Ministry. My Ministry is also reviewing the Food Regulations to prevent companies from giving expired food items to charitable organisations.

With regard to Mr Chin's second question, Sir, in practice, the retailers return the expired food items, if any, to the suppliers who would in turn arrange for them to be destroyed at our dumping grounds.