Bread manufacturers ordered to print correct weight, expiry date on wrappers

The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) has fingered the manufacturers of bread for perpetrating consumer abuse.

In a statement containing findings from investigations targeted at the manufacturers, the competitions regulator has established unfair and misleading market conduct by the actors.

For instance, the manufacturers have been found liable for failing to provide manufacturing dates on bread wrappers in the prescribed format with others omitting the applicable month in the expiry dates.

Additionally, the manufacturers have been indicted for failing to provide the weight of their bread products and ingredients.

Some have meanwhile marketed their bread products as fortified but have failed to specify nutrients or vitamins used.

Others have misled consumers that their products contained milk or butter whereas they did not.

“These actions amount to making false and misleading representations to consumers of goods and services and are in contravention of sections of the Competition Act. Further, the bread manufacturers, were not adhering to product information standards as prescribed by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS),” CAK said in a statement on Monday.

“Manufacturers have no latitude to elect which laws to adhere to,” added CAK Director General Wang’ombe Kariuki.

The bread manufacturers have been asked to take remedial measures including compliance with requirements such as providing a list of ingredients and the net weight of products in grams.

Further, the manufacturers are required to legibly print the day and month the product was manufactured on the wrapper and correctly indicate the expiry date of the bread by adjusting the information on the wrappers to ‘Best Before’ instead of ‘Sell By’.

Additionally, manufacturers must clearly specify the vitamins and minerals used in the fortification of their bread.

The CAK is expected to continuously undertake spot-checks to establish compliance with all the directives.