malvernmugadzikwa
Society Reporter
UNSCRUPULOUS individuals are putting the lives of consumers at risk by selling fake and expired products, The Sunday Mail Society has gathered.
The culprits have the audacity of selling the fake goods even in broad daylight.
The deceitful traders are pretending to sell popular brands at discounted prices, yet, in actual fact, they will be selling low-quality counterfeit products.
Fake product stickers are put on the counterfeit goods, duping the unsuspecting consumers in the process.
Recently, a local company that produces toiletries teamed up with the police and raided a house where fake foam bath products were being manufactured and sold.
Fake toothpaste, beverages, pharmaceuticals and chemicals have also flooded the market.
One of the popular toothpaste brands trending on social media has different logo placements and advertised weight, though the packages appear to be of the same size.
One brand is marked 140g, while the other is inscribed 100ml.
The cunning con artists are replacing original product stickers with fake ones to mislead the buying public.
Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) chief executive officer Rosemary Mpofu is on record confirming the presence of imitations and expired medical products. She urged consumers to shun commodities that are not distributed using the formal channels.
According to Mpofu, the CCZ was, in 2023, inundated with reports of fake alcoholic beverages that were in the market.
“In December last year, consumers were complaining about fake alcoholic beverages, which were imitations of the big brands.
“We discovered that some of them were being manufactured, packed and then labelled in backyards. The fake products looked exactly like the original ones,” Mpofu said.
She urged consumers to be on the lookout for fake products. The uncertified products pose a real threat to human life.
“Consumers must always look out for expired products to ensure their safety. They must look at the labelling and exercise caution,” she said.
Unregistered and expired animal health products are also being peddled.
Recently, the police’s Criminal Investigations Department, drugs and narcotics unit, in conjunction with the Council of Veterinary Surgeons and the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe, raided a veterinary medicines dealer in Harare.
Truckloads of expired, counterfeit and unregistered veterinary drugs were seized. Experts agree that the sale of expired and unregistered drugs was a serious offence and it poses a serious threat to humans, as well as animals.
Dr Kudzanai Munyengeri, a veterinarian, said the health of animals is at great risk.
“We have dangerous drugs that are not only fake but also unregistered.
“Those who are selling such drugs are putting the lives of animals at risk,” Dr Munyengeri said.
Online Reporter