Malawi Bureau of Standards tells Castel to apologise over substandard Sobo Squash
A privately-owned French beverage company, Castel Group, the new shareholders of the Sobo brand has been taken to task by Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) for supplying substandard Sobo Orange Squash last month as the company has been ordered to recall, reconcile and issue an apology to consumers within seven days.
In a published statement on Monday, MBS director general Davlin Chokazinga said failure to oblige to the order would result in withdrawal of the manufacturer’s certification marks, consequently suspending production of the product.
It was reported last month that the product under batch numbers B284, B285, B286 and B287 manufactured on December 3 2017 had become “unfit for human consumption” and consumers complained to MBS.
In some cases the Sobo had started to show signs of fermentation – a process that converts sugar to acids, gases, or alcohol.
MBS boss Davlin Chokazinga said the bureau undertook thorough investigations on the products and laboratory results show that the product had high microbiological counts of yeast and moulds.
“The investigation revealed that the cause of the problem was that the production crew on that date erroneously added low quantities of preservatives [sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate] to the production batches, about one third of the required amount,” reads the MBS statement in part.
Castel Group bought 59.48 percent stake from Carlsberg Malawi last year while Press Corporation Limited remained a minority shareholder with 39.65 percent
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Why is tartrazine banned in the UK?
E102 Tartrazine side effects. Tartrazine is a synthetic yellow azo dye derived from coal tar and has been banned in several countries (Austria, Norway) because of serious side effects such as causing potentially lethal asthma attacks and nettle rash, hives, DNA damage, tumors of the thyroid and ADHD.
Dzimvele muntolo
A relative of mine visited us and with joy, I bought a Sobo for him, pineapple brand to be particular. He observed the contents and discovered that there is Tartrazine in our Sobo products. He asked me to google tartrazine and discover the dangers on my own and I did. Lo and behold, I stopped buying the Sobo! Would Malawi Bureau of Standards assure us that it is safe to have tartrazine in these Sobo products we are consuming?
Why just advise them to apologize other give them a heavy fine to teach them a bitter lesson? Is an apology enough to Malawians? MBS, you are putting lives of poor Malawians at healthy risk. Be professional and act lawfully as we are not substandard human beings on this planet