Praneeta Prakash 
As Fijians gear up for Christmas shopping, the Consumer Council has sounded the alarm, revealing concerning trends uncovered during their recent market surveillance.
Chief Executive Seema Shandil says misleading pricing, unhygienic conditions, and compromised meat quality are plaguing some supermarkets.
She says some supermarkets appear to be retailing fat instead of quality meat product.
Apart from this, she says many supermarkets were found to have extremely unhygienic conditions, including wet floors and foul odours which poses health risks to both consumers and staff.
The Consumer Council CEO says strict actions will be taken against offending retailers.
“Our teams have issued 40 warning letters to traders who have been found in breach of acts and regulations in place . We will be revisiting these places where this notices have been issued whether they are complying or they continue to breach the issues and should we find that they continue to breach we will flag them to enforcement agency which is Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission in this case.”
Earlier this week Trade Minister Manoa Kamikamica expressed disappointment and issued a warning to supermarket stakeholders against selling inferior products during the festive season for the sake of profits.
Shandil says the Minister’s warning serves as a reminder that selling spoiled goods unfit for human consumption is inexcusable.
She adds that while they are rigorously working to resolve these issues in collaboration with other enforcement bodies, the Council expects that supermarkets will do the right thing over the long weekend shopping frenzy and provide consumers value for their money.
