Coming from a background where poisoned beer, popularly known as Ambuye ‘N’tengeni’, recently claimed 10 lives in Nancholi Township, Blantyre, The Daily Times can assert that some imbibers could be dying unknowingly as they continue to consume unknown and uncertified alcohol which has flooded the market.
This is because our investigations have revealed that unscrupulous traders are becoming more sophisticated than before.
Our investigations have revealed that imbibers should be mindful of the ‘unholy water’ they take as some traders are packaging the brew in a way that makes it difficult for one to discover that it is fake.
We have some beers, which we bought from some shops in the Central Region, which are packaged in bottles originally produced by foreign companies.
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For instance, we bought one of the beers, which was packaged in a Castle Lite branded bottle, but the South African firm informed us that the product is not from it.
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The bottle has been branded using the sticker of a local company.
We called the number which is appearing on the label and the manager of the company disowned the product in our possession.
“We used to produce such products but stopped doing so because we were not making profits. The sticker is ours but someone could be abusing it,” he said.
The other bottle is branded New One Kick Dry Gin.
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It is packaged in a ‘Budweiser Lager Beer’, which is a foreign country-based beer-producing company.
What this means is that the ‘New One Kick Dry Gin’ is not necessarily producing the alcohol in the bottle but its sticker is used by the unscrupulous traders to sell the product.
The unfortunate part is that the beer, which is sold in liquor shops, is labelled in such a way that consumers would be hoodwinked into believing that it is original.
“It is difficult to know that it is not an original product because the bottle is well-branded with Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) mark; meaning that it is certified. So, once you taste it and you like it, then you continue taking it without knowing that you are drinking something that is not certified,” Andrew Menyani from Blantyre said.
We took the bottles to MBS to confirm if they are certified by them.
Deputy Director of Quality Assurance Services responsible for Certification and Inspections Demster Kumvenji said they are aware of the existence of such fake products on the market.
He further put the blame on companies for not protecting their labels from abuse.
“We are aware that some traders engage in illegal trading activities and we have rigorous activities, through market surveillance [exercises], whereby almost each and every week we are on the market checking such products if they are the ones that we previously certified. In the event that we find some [of the products to be] suspicious, we take legal action.
“Our role basically is to provide certification and business operators have a responsibility of protecting products which have been certified. This is because such products carry their names and, in case of abuse, their reputation is also at stake,” Kumvenji said.
He further said that they need to taste the bottles of beer that are in our possession to find out if they meet standards.
Meanwhile, Consumers Association of Malawi Executive Director John Kapito has expressed worry that consumers are not fully protected in the country.
“MBS should be the first to know about substandard, or fake, products that are on the market but you find that they, too, are not aware of what is happening. It is an issue of monitoring and inspection, which seems to be a problem. Unfortunately most consumers are pushed to buy products which are well labelled because they are deemed genuine. We have previously heard that MBS has withdrawn such a product from the market but, within a day, you find the same product back on the market,” Kapito said.
The country seems to be found wanting, in terms of monitoring and regulating food products.
In fact, the country is in the process of coming up with a Food Safety Act, which will lead to the formulation of a Food Safety Authority to act as a regulator of consumed products.
In the absence of such a regulator, MBS—whose role is to enforce standards—has been a default regulator.
Kumvenji also conceded that there are some existing gaps in the regulation but was quick to say that the Food Safety Authority will address the challenge.
Malawi Revenue Authority spokesperson Steve Kapoloma said such traders continue to deprive the country of revenue.
“Such companies may not be registered by the Registrar General and it means that we cannot collect tax. It is for such reasons that we are introducing a tax stamp so that any product on the market should have a stamp of the manufacturer.
“We will, therefore, share an application so that when one walks into a shop, you should be able to see that stamp on the product. If they give you a product without a stamp, you will trace such products,” Kapoloma said.
