Rice importers warned over low grade product

Grenadian authorities have cautioned importers against bringing food products that are unfit for human consumption into the country, according to a report on www.cananews.net.



The warning was issued following a crackdown on the importation of \"low grade\" rice from Guyana being sold to consumers without proper labelling.



Head of the laboratory services at the Grenada Bureau of Standards, Leonard St. Bernard, said it is illegal to import such inferior rice into Grenada.



\"This rice came in just as you see it. There was no label on it. No description as to what it was going to be used for. Actually it is illegal to import rice of this quality into Grenada,\" St. Bernard said.



Director of the Grenada Bureau of Standards Simeon Collins said suppliers in Guyana have informed him through official correspondence that it was local importers who requested the low grade rice and negotiated a price for it.



They have since been ordered to start selling the rice solely as animal feed instead of passing it off as a product fit for human consumption.



\"We have written the suppliers in Guyana informing them of the bad quality of the product and they have written back to us and told us that it was the importers that negotiated a price for this low quality,\" Collins said.



This is the second time in recent weeks authorities here have had to stop the sale of a product from Guyana in local supermarkets.



Last month, the Bureau demanded the removal of a seasoning product from supermarket shelves because it failed to comply with the local labelling and packaging standards.