The Consumer Goods Council says it’s looking at ways of assisting consumers to view details of each food product before buying it.
The council says it will soon require food manufacturers to put a 2D serial barcode on their packaged products. It will able consumers to view the details of the product by simply scanning the barcode with their smartphones.
This was heard on Day 2 of the South African Human Rights Commission Inquiry into Allegations of the Sale of Fake and Expired Goods by foreign-owned shops.
The allegations led to incidents of violence in which foreign-owned shops were looted in Soweto and surrounding townships.
Four people were killed.
Environmental Health Practitioners from Mopani District Municipality have removed rotten meat from Boxer Store in Giyani during the raid against expired products. The meat was packed on a dysfunctional fridge. #sabcnews #expirydates pic.twitter.com/B8T85eNK9o
— Shibu Mamokgere (@shiburyder) September 10, 2018
Municipalities across Gauteng as well as other stakeholders are participating in the inquiry.
“What we want to move into in the industry is moving into proper 2D smart labelling codes. Why? The consumer will have the power to pick up your phone, scan this code similar to the way you would scan your flight ticket at OR Tambo and be able to give you what is in the product. It will tell you things like the product ID, the expiry date, the date of manufacture and event the serial number so that you know that that bottle of water compared the one siting there are different and exactly where the expiry comes from,” said the council’s Michelle Padayachee.
