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Written by Administrator   
Wednesday, 04 August 2010 22:34

COMPLAINT

Thank you for the Dutch Lady goods worth RM100.00 hamper which I collected this evening at abut 5.30 pm. However i did tell Puan S that the packers of hampers sometimes included date expired items and some items where the expiry dates are close to the date the hampers are sent to recipients. This has been my experience during my days from 1993 onwards when I was working in Government for over thirty years and later in companies where the officers used to receive hampers from their suppliers/contractors and citizens who also receive hampers from relatives/friends on functions such as birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, etc. 
I opened the hamper and checked the expiry dates of all the contents and found the following;

  • Orange flavored drinks bottles had expired on 2 June 2010
  • Grape flavored drinks bottles are due to expire on 13.6.10
  • Chocolate flavoured drinks bottles are due to expire on 28.6.10 [2 bottles] and 16.7.10 [2 bottles]
  • Strawberry flavoured drinks are due to expire on 22.8.10
  • Full cream milk due to expire on 6.9.10
  • Chocolate/strawberry flavored packet drinks due to expire on Dec 2010
  • Baby milk powder due to expire in May 2011.

As far as I know the Dutch Lady milk products have at least nine months of validity period when they come into the market. This is because I have been purchasing Dutch Lady milk products for over two decades. Thus I am sure that the hamper packer has used the opportunity to get rid of of  item [a] to [e] old stocks which includes item [a] that is already time expired.

I am aware of this 'cheating' activity of hamper packers and always look for expiry dates of items that are subject to disclosure of this important items. I will either throw these items or keep them pending your response. I dread to think what would happen to families who do not check this important information and were to consume them. The victims are normally children who may end up in the hospital with food poisoning due to the date expired food items.

This should also be raised with Dutch Lady Management as it is their reputation that is at stake. Please copy to me your letter to Dutch Lady management and other company who may have sponsored the hamper gifts. I intend to call Dutch Lady by phone to-morrow to whom this e-mail is being copied.

This e-mail is also extended to Ministry Of Health as I treat this as a very serious health matter and consumers should be aware about this 'criminal' practise as unsuspecting consumers can end up sick and sometimes in death..



NCCC’S ACTION


The complaint has been brought to the Dutch Lady’s attention and below is the feedback from them.

FEEDBACK FROM DUTCH LADY

Thank you for writing to us on this matter.

On behalf of Dutch Lady Milk Industries Berhad, we appreciate efforts like yours as we see it only as a way for us to improve on our services.

Meanwhile I would like to inform you that we have personally contacted Mr G on Monday (14 June 2010) at about 7.00pm. He was very helpful and we had a very enlightening and amicable conversation. We informed Mr G that we are conducting internal investigations on how the incident could have happened. Mr G was kindly understanding. That said, Dutch Lady Malaysia has also agreed to keep Mr G abreast of our investigation and even its outcome.

We would also be more than happy to keep you in the loop also.

Thank you.

Corporate Communications Department
Corporate Affairs Division

FINAL REPORT FROM DUTCH LADY

Following our correspondences, I am happy to inform that our internal investigations, conducted by our Corporate Affairs Department, had been concluded.

The goods (various products) for the hampers were packed by an external party in March this year. At the point of packing, the shelflife of the goods were at least 3-4 mths before expiry (particularly Yes!). Unfortunately the hampers were only picked up from Dutch Lady Malaysia (by recipients who had made earlier requests) in June.

Learning from the incident, we are re-hatching a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) with our packers to ensure :

1. Goods packed have at least 6 months shelf-life (expiry date)
2. Collection of goods is within 1 mth post packing of hampers
3. That a mechanism is put in place to enable tracking of distributed hampers and their contents.

While we realise that we cannot do enough to assure Mr G that it was never is the Company’s intention to use expired stocks to pack hampers meant for donation, we are no less regretful of the incident and the inconvenience that he has been put to.

Again, we would also like thank Mr G for highlighting this matter to us to ensure that we are more prudent in handing out our goods for public distribution.

Sincerely,

Head, Corporate Communications Department
Corporate Affairs Division

FOOD ACT 1983 is an Act to protect the public against health hazards and fraud in the preparation, sale and use of food, and for matters incidental thereto or connected therewith.

Regards
Deivigarani Krishna
National Consumer Complaints Centre