Discolored meats have been discovered in the storage area of a supermarket in Labasa. Vakaruru Cavuilati, the Divisional North Health Inspector, announced that the supermarket has received a notice for non-compliance with food safety standards.
This issue came to light during a routine inspection conducted alongside municipal authorities. Cavuilati indicated that improper temperature storage was responsible for the discoloration of the meat.
“We removed the affected frozen products for laboratory testing to check for any microbial growth,” he stated. It was revealed that the supermarket’s freezer had been inactive for over two weeks.
The supermarket management expressed intentions to reopen their storage to install a fan, which could have been the cause of inadequate cold air circulation within the freezer.
Cavuilati confirmed that the supermarket has refrained from selling any meat since the freezer shutdown.