Consumer protection agency pulls products on label violations

Santo Domingo.- The consumer protection agency,ProConsumidor, on Wednesday said it pulled 2,199 products from store shelveslast Monday, for violating packaging standards, of which 72% (1,583) were expiredand the rest for dents, deteriorated, unlabeled or rusted.

It said however that there’s been significant progress incompliance with standards with labeling in Spanish during the first day ofinspections to verify compliance by business that sell foods.

Agency director Anina del Castillo said even largesupermarkets have complied by relabeling products in Spanish, to comply withits deadline.

She said inspections will continue nationwide and will rendera report to the country on their results.

"It’s important to clarify that Proconsumidor is evervigilant to enforce that labeling and product information rules are in Spanish,which is the official language of the Dominican Republic," said Del Castillo,who called on consumers to check labels prior to buying foods and report anomalies.