The Uganda Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has come to refute reports that fake eggs exist on the Ugandan market, especially Kampala.
The agency says that the article published in one of the leading weekly papers in the country was misleading. “The story contains inaccuracies and misrepresentation of facts particularly on comments attributed to our market surveillance officer,” the agency says.
“The products referred to in the article by our market surveillance team were actually sweets in packages that looked like egg shells but clearly labelled as Funny Toys. Apart from the appearance of the package, the product did not contain any features meant to mislead the public into believing that they are actual eggs,” it says.
The agency says its intervention meant to due to suspected tampering with expiry dates and labels in Chinese language in violation of the standard for labelling pre-packaged foods.
“We have not received complaints or come across cases of fake eggs on the market,” it says.
The agency says it is a mandated to enforce standards to protect the health and safety of consumers and the environment against dangerous substandard products. “We would like to urge any person with information that can help us in our investigations to report on our toll free line: 0800133133,” it says.
“Fighting substandard products needs a concerted effort involving UNBS working together with manufacturers, traders, consumers, and other government agencies. We would like to urge the public to always look out for UNBS Distinctive Mark as a quality assurance that a locally manufactured product meets the required standards,” it says.