George Herald | Check labels on cheese

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Check labels on cheese
07:30 (GMT+2), Fri, 03 August 2012

LIFESTYLE NEWS - Consumers must make sure they buy dairy products of South African origin instead of imported products which do not comply with strict requirements.

"We submitted several requests to the authorities over the past few months to investigate imported dairy products which did not comply with South African requirements," cautioned Bertus de Jongh, chief executive officer of the Milk Producers' Organisation (MPO).

According to De Jongh the authorities had to act against several importers after it was found that the content and / or labelling of imported dairy products did not comply with requirements. One such an imported product contained vegetable fat and was incorrectly labelled as Danish feta cheese.

Misleading information on substandard products is regarded in a very serious light as it could harm the industry, and De Jongh cautioned consumers to check the labels which, according to labelling regulations, must list ingredients and the country of origin of products.

He said the MPO and its monitoring company, Agri Inspec, monitor all dairy imports on a monthly basis and identify suspect consignments, which are submitted to the authorities for further investigation and action. "The MPO will not hesitate to utilise its network of contacts established with the authorities to take effective action steps against irregularities," he warned.