A raid on retailers by a government team tasked with removing expired food items from shelves, has cleaned out a major supermarket in Nuku'alofa yesterday, and the team will continue to visit stores in the capital with their unannounced inspections.

A Task Force Inspection Team yesterday removed hundreds of food items from the shelves at the Si’i Kae Ola Supermarket because they were expired. Dozens of trolleys were filled with rejected items as a team comprised of a police officer and officers from various ministries worked together to remove items. Many product lines were removed leaving empty spaces on the shelves.

“Be careful what you eat,” one officer told shoppers.

The inspections are led by the  Consumer Affairs Division of the Ministry of Commerce, Tourism and Labour. A spokersperson said the the food items removed will be inspected by an officer from the Ministery of Health, who will condemn the items to be removed for disposal under the supervision of the Ministry of Health along with the store owner.

Most of the goods removed from Si'i Kai Ola Supermarket were potato chips, biscuits and snack foods.

They said that the taskforce inspection operation which began in February this year was initiated to protect the welfare and interest of consumers and consists of six core Ministries including Health, Police, Revenue and Customs, Food Section of the MAFFF, Immigration Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Commerce, Tourism and Labour.

They said that businesses must comply with the various acts and regulations administered by each Ministry, that was why the officers were carrying out the inspections together.

A Task Force Inspection Committee meets once a month to discuss the next month’s inspection scheduling for the team. The inspections are to be carried out twice a week.

“It is never on the same day and businesses are not informed that they will be inspected at their premises,” said the spokesperson.

At the same time, the Community Unit at Tonga Police whose jurisdiction is to ensure all liquor licenses are valid stated they have inspected over 30 shops.