CHEGUTU -SOME grocery shops that are mushrooming in the Central Business District (CBD)
are putting customers at risk as they are selling expired products, which include maize meal and
others.
An unnamed corner shop was recently caught on the wrong side of the law when it knowingly
sold expired maize meal putting customers at risk.
A customer realised that she was cheated, when she noticed threads in the maize meal in the
10kg packet she had just bought.
When she opened the packet she saw some little brown worms in the maize-meal.
The woman returned with the maize-meal to the shop, where she found other customers also
complaining about the same issue.
”When I got into the shop I was surprised to learn that a number of people were being duped by
the shop workers, who really knew that the product had expired but were still putting it on the
shelves.
“One worker confirmed that they were not surprised by the returns as it was now two days since
customers started returning the maize-meal,” said a woman, who refused to give her name.
The shop manager has confirmed that they will receive a new consignment in five days’ time
from the miller in Harare.
As stories are going round in the town about the shop, several people are now shunning the shop.
“I will never buy anything from that shop, because I may end up buying contaminated products. I
can still remember during my boyhood there was a board that used to monitor grocery shops. Is it
still there? If they are, they must arrest owners of such shops,” said Misheck Dokwani.
Grocery corner shops are mushrooming at an alarming pace, making one wonder if all these
shops are registered.
Every open space is being occupied by people, with some just laying their products on the open
ground, especially at the town bus terminus.