The Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency (LASCOPA) has stressed the need for consumers to ensure careful examination of the product information and other vital details before making purchases.
The Agency said that checking details of a product’s composition would not only enable consumers of perishable products to get value for their money but also guarantee their protection from the harmful effect of hazardous products.
The General Manager of LASCOPA, Mrs. Kemi Olugbode, disclosed this at a chat with newsmen on the activities of the Agency.
According to her, it has become very necessary to educate consumers on the need to regularly check the details of all consumable products before buying them.
Olugbode said LASCOPA has discovered that some supermarkets and retail shops display consumable products without vital details such as expiry date, production date and batch number before sales to consumers.
She said that retailers of products without adequate inscription of the vital details are constantly being educated on the need to insist that only products with the required information are purchased from their suppliers.
While affirming that every consumer has a right to adequate information on any product to be purchased, Olugbode said such basic information would confirm the product’s ingredients and validity status.
She noted that LASCOPA Monitoring Team, as well as the Consumer Education Team, conduct regular checks to ensure that products displayed in supermarkets are fit for consumption and not hazardous while traders are taught the importance of displaying wholesome goods for sale to consumers.
“Our monitoring team ensures that all expired products discovered in any retail shop or supermarket are removed immediately so as to ensure they are not sold to consumers,” she said.
She, therefore, called on producers of consumable products to ensure that the required vital information for consumer education is boldly written on both the package of the products and on each item.
