Del Monte Foods in California has hired a local attorney to file charges against the company that has allegedly been manufacturing counterfeit Del Monte gold and white corn, said Andrew King, Managing Director of official distributor, Toucan Industries.
King told Stabroek News that Del Monte Foods was seeking counsel to sue the company that was manufacturing the fake product, while noting that Toucan and the Government Analyst – Food and Drug Department (FDD) were still pulling the counterfeit products off the market.
Deputy Director of the FDD, Jewel Sears said their investigation into the fake product is ongoing and checks have been made with the company implicated in the counterfeiting. Sears also stated that they were still trying to ascertain the exact location where the counterfeiting is being done.
Last month the FDD had issued a warning to alert consumers about counterfeit cans labelled ‘Del Monte’ gold and white corn. The manufacturers were listed as Super Foods Inc, of Lot 8 Ruimveldt Industrial Estate, Georgetown, Guyana. Super Foods Inc has not commented on this matter. Retailers were advised to pull the fake product off their shelves.
The counterfeited corn products are canned in semi-rigid containers with gold coloured labelled caps which become indented and deformed with firm finger pressure.
The FDD said that this was a canning/packaging defect that does not guarantee the integrity of the contents, which may lead to the possible inflow of air (oxygen) and this can give rise to oxidation resulting in chemical and or microbiological contamination. This can result in broken seals, bloating and or explosion of the cans, which can put consumers at risk for poisoning by chemicals and or microorganisms. The genuine product has a silver coloured cap, is hard to the touch and is difficult to indent the can.
The department advised unsuspecting wholesalers and distributors of this product to immediately remove it from their shelves or distributing system and return it to ‘Super Foods Inc’ or surrender same to the Food and Drug Department or any Environmental Health Officer in the regions. Consumers are advised not to use this or any other canned product with the above mentioned characteristic.
Meanwhile, Toucan Industries lawyers, the sole authorised distributor of the Del Monte Foods in Guyana, has written SuperFoods over the matter.
