Any shop or bakery found to be reselling margarine cut up into quarter pound portions and in a different packing face hefty fines ranging from 10-50 thousand dollars.

This after Fijivillage yesterday bought a pack which was being sold for $1.50 and was informed that it was margarine re-packed in plastic bags.

Acting Head of the Health Ministry’s Food Unit Samuela Bolalailai said that they have received some complaints from members of the public that they have gone to some bakeries and have been presented with margarine cut up and re packed in quarter pound sizes and sold in plastic bags for $1.50.

He revealed that under the Food Safety Act, any small shop found doing so faces a $10, 000 fine or five years imprisonment and if it is a franchise or if it is a corporate body, then they face a fine of $50,000 or 10 years imprisonment.

The unit stressed that once they take the margarine out of its proper container they are compromising the safety of the product and this is a risk to the consumer.

Meanwhile a raid was conducted in the last hour on a small bakery in the main Suva centre after reports that they were selling the re-packed margarine.

This is after a shortage of Rewa butter in the market.


Story by: Paradise Tudrau