Malawi Bureau of Standards suspends and revokes business certificates for food operators

* It is the mandate of the MBS to ensure that Malawians are served with food products that are of quality and good standards

* The operators were found operating below the minimum requirements of the Malawi Standard (MS) 21:2002

By Christer Kalukusha, MANA

Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) has revoked certificates of various food business operators across the country, on issues to do with hygiene and safety — MBS Director General, Dr. Benard Thole said in a press statement released on Saturday.

Thole said they have revoked the certification and suspended operation of Suhanna Continental Bakery (bread & buns), Sana Superstore-North End mall, Mzuzu (bread, buns, confectioneries & meat handling); Midland Fast Food (catering services); Macdeema Cash ‘n’ Carry, Mzuzu (butchery); Perekezi Enterprises (honey & coffee) and Mzuzu Coffee Planters Cooperative Union Ltd (ground coffee).

The list also includes Emmaculate Lodge, Mzuzu (catering services); Our Daily Bread Bakery (bread & buns); Chipiku Stores-Game Complex,Lilongwe, (catering services, meat handling, bread & buns) and Korea Gardens, Lilongwe (catering services), due to non-compliance with relevant Malawi standards.

Thole said it is their mandate to ensure that Malawians are served with food products that are of quality and good standards hence the suspension of operators that failed to comply to such conditions.

“The aforementioned operators were found operating below the minimum requirements of the Malawi Standard (MS) 21:2002: Food and Food processing units-code of hygiene conditions — exposing the products and or services to significant food risk.

“In the interest of public health safety and in line with provision of Malawi Bureau of Standards Act (Cap 51:02) sections 34 (1) and 39 (1), the MBS hereby exercises its mandate to withdraw certification and or issue suspension order to these business operators,” he said.

He has, therefore, advised the general public to refrain from patronising the services of catering and meat handling and buying or consuming products from these facilities until all the shortfalls are addressed and suspension is lifted.

The MBS has also revoked the certification and production of Hayat Natural Mineral Bottled Water by Thirsty Juice Company located in Njewa, Lilongwe and has ordered recall of the product from the market with immediate effect due to noncompliance on food safety parameters contrary to Malawi (Standard quoted as ???????? ????????????: ????????????????; ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????–????????????????????????????????????????????????????).

“During our routine regulatory conformity assessment activities, the MBS collected samples of the product in question for laboratory tests based on MS 560:2004, and the results revealed critical non-compliance with the minimum requirements on the food safety parameters.

“Based on the laboratory tests that the MBS conducted, ???????????????????? ???????????????????????? ????????????????:????????:???????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ????????????????????–???????????? ???????? was deemed defective and dangerous for use, and in the interest of public health safety, and in line with provisions of the Malawi Bureau of Standards Act (Cap 51:02), Sections 34 (1), 39 (1) and 41, the MBS hereby restrict the presence of the said batch of this product in all market streams across the country with immediate effect.”

The MBS further said it issued an order to ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ????????????  stopping them from manufacturing and distributing Hayat bottled water until all registered shortfalls on food safety parameters are addressed as stipulated in the relevant Malawi Standards and the certification is reissued and further recall the products from all the retail outlets by February 15, 2024 as already communicated to company.

“The MBS is, therefore, advising the retail outlets to withdraw these products from the market such that they are not accessible to the consumers and also the general public to refrain from buying or consuming this product.

“The MBS would like to assure the general public that we are currently continuing with the conformity assessments and taking appropriate actions on any defective products and services offered across the country.

“The MBS, therefore, would like to appeal to the public to continue reporting to the Bureau on its ????????????????–???????????????? ???????????????????????? ????????????  on both TNM and Airtel Malawi lines if they encounter any suspected substandard products on the market and when production facilities are operating below minimum requirements,” said the Director General. 

MBS is a statutory organization established in 1972 by an Act of Parliament, Cap 51:02 (revised as Act No. 14 of 2012), with a mandate to promote metrology, standardization, and quality assurance of commodities and the manufacture, production, processing or treatment thereof; and further to provide for matters incidental to, or connected with standardization.