The Livingstone City Council yesterday swung into action seizing and destroying cereals from Shoprite Supermarket containing Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).
Livingstone City Council Chief Health Inspector Muchoka Muchoka said Bokomo Cornflakes, popcorns and Jungle Oats were among the cereals seized and destroyed from the two Shoprite outlets in the tourist capital.
Mr. Muchoka said the quantities destroyed were 496 packets of 500 grams Bokomo cornflakes, 208 packets of 750 grams of the breakfast cereal, four packets of the one kilogram Bokomo cornflakes and 141 packets of the 375 grams cereal.
The Chief Health Inspector confirmed the development to ZANIS in Livingstone today stating that despite Bokomo being a South African brand, the cereal seized in the exercise was manufactured in Lusaka.
Mr. Muchoka said after seizing the goods, the local authority sought guidance from the Bio Safety Authority which in turn authorized them to destroy the goods at the expense of Shoprite.
“We sought guidance from the Bio Safety Authority after seizing the goods from the Shoprite outlets. The Authority gave us clearance to destroy the goods at the expense of Shoprite and we did so in the company of police and the Zambia Environmental Management Agency,” he said.
He said the Loss Control Manager from Shoprite was yet to inform the local authority on the value of the destroyed goods.
Mr. Muchoka said the action by the council was in accordance with the Bio Safety Act of 2007 which prohibits the exposure for sale of any food containing GMOs above the legally authorized threshold of 0.9 percent.
He however, assured Livingstone residents that health inspectors checked other supermarkets in the city and found no trace of cereals containing illegal quantities of Genetically Modified Organisms.
And Livingstone City Council Public Relations Officer Harriet Chimuka urged shop owners to engage the local authority’s health department whenever they discovered that some of their products had harmful substances.
Ms Chimuka commended health inspectors for being alert and taking quick action by seizing and destroying the harmful cereal.
She reiterated the council’s commitment to undertake routine inspections to identify harmful products in a bid to protect unsuspecting consumers.
If they only knew how many other GMO products we consume everyday. For example, did God ever create seedless oranges, grapes, etc. What about the GMO feed that is given to livestock that eventually ends up on our plates? We’ve consumed and continue to consume GMO products in some form or another. So let the people eat what they want and can afford.
Can someone please enlighten me on how they reached the conclusion that the cereals contained GMOs? Does the council have testing equipment?
Some packaging clearly state that the food was genetically modified especially food for children. But these scumbags in Zambia, I am sure they only acted on hear say and should be taken to court- I wonder if they took the cornflakes to the laboratory and tested the genetic combination in the cells to see if they have been scientifically manipulated and modified.
“…discovered that some of their products had harmful substances…” Can the council tell us what harm the GMOs can cause? These illiterates trying to sound like experts need to tell people what harm these foodstuffs can cause to humans and offer tips to the public as to what to look out for to avoid buying these goods, like we check the expiry dates, in the first place. Ba Swine!
I have not heard of any harm caused to humans by consuming GM food and we are well nourished here in the West and live longer. As suntwe put it – give us the numbers (stats) and the basis of your findings. What experiments did you undertake? What are the symptoms of eating GM? Don’t go about scaring people without tangible data and getting your knockers in a twist.
Keep up the good work Livingstone City Council….I think the Zambian government needs to get the involvement of the EEC who have banned GMO on the best practice and guidance in this field.
We need to educate the business community on the steps to to take…to avoid incurring heavy losses.
Those City Council are piece of thugs, arrest them for vandalism and malicious behavior. Why not destroy all the maize too, because is full of ammonium nitrate and Compound D fertilizers?
The coucil workers were just starving and wanted to eat some free cereal. Kulomba fye.
@Nostradamus
Not surprised by your comments since you guys in the US are Mosanto lab rats…ever eating GMO in your diet.
@Jay Jay, you right. That GMO is good. Look at you in picture. GMO made you look like Terminator or what are you now, you no longer look like Kamushi.
What particular substance was found? Should we buy bokomo cornflakes, jungle oats? Do all shoprite outlets stock the same product that was destroyed in livingstone? How did it enter our country in the first place without detection?
There is lots of evidence of damage in test mice, as well as increased allergic reactions in humans. We don’t need GM anything. There are many ways in which to increase food production in sustainable ways.
(GLOBALRESEARCH) Potential Health Hazards of Genetically Engineered Foods
By Stephen Lendman
Global Research, February 15, 2014
Global Research 22 February 2008
” Two dozen farmers reported their pigs and cows fed GM corn became sterile, 71 shepherds said 25% of their sheep fed Bt cotton plants died, and…”
” and other reports showed the same effects on cows, chickens, water buffaloes and horses. After GM soy was introduced in the UK, allergies from the product skyrocketed by 50%, and in the US in the 1980s, a GM food supplement killed dozens and left five to ten thousand others sick or disabled. “
Mr K, I dont know where you got that rubbish, but as a professional studying the issue, I can tell you it is not true. GMOs have never caused that. Look at your title “Potential Health Hazards” not ACTUAL health hazards!!! in other words, somebody IMAGINES that they cause harm. No PROOF!
If someone ate BOKOMO corn flakes for breakfast and later that day gets run over by a car, are you going to say– YES GMOs!!! thats what killed him???
They are 100% healthy AND good for the environment!
YES! I SUPPORT THE COUNCIL ON THIS. GMO FOODS MUST NOT BE BROUGHT INTO ZAMBIA. LET THE COUNTRIES THAT MODIFY THE GENES OF ANIMALS AND VEGGIES AND FRUITS FOR THE SAKE OF MASS PRODUCTION EAT THE FOOD THEMSELVES.
A ZAMBIAN WOULDN’T LIKE TO EAT IGOMBE THAT GROWS WITHIN WEEKS AND IT SHOULDN’T BE ENCOURAGED. THAT’S WHY MAYBE IN OTHER LANDS THERE ARE A LOT OF DOWN’S SYNDROME. PEOPLE ARE EATING VERY UN NATURAL, AND OVER PROCESSED FOODS.
Can the authorities analyze the chickens from the Chinese poultry farmers also. The Chickens are too big and very fatty, believed to be grown within two to three weeks. They cost far cheaper than those “normally” reared. Cheap is not cheap – what makes them grow so big and what adverse effect do they have on humans??
Lets give food to the needy instead of destroying it for some artificial reason. No one has ever died from GMOs but plenty have from hunger.
There is big difference between plant breeding and GE crops. Certain GE crops have been engineered to withstand heavy applications of herbicides which are known to have a devastating effect on many beneficial insects, especially bees. Not only that, many of the so-called weeds that are targeted, like dandelion and amaranth, are extremely nutritious and even have medicinal properties. Now if these herbicides are strong enough to kill small living creatures, how can they not have any effect on humans who consume them year after year? Also the herbicides being used are the same ones manufactured by the companies developing the seeds. Those seeds which are owned and patented by big companies so that a farmer may not save those seeds for growing next year. That only hurts the small farmer.