Kusal Perera directs his queries in a letter addressed to the CAA Director General.

The letter requests for more information on labelling of Coca Cola bottles.

The queries raised in the letter are based on the Gazette Extraordinary of 19 January, 2005 bearing no.1376/9 issued under the Food Act No.26 of 1980, he adds.

The complete letter is as follows :

Director General,
Consumer Affairs Authority,
No 27, Vauxhall street,
Colombo 02.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dear Sir,

Complaint & Request for information on labelling of Coca Cola bottles

This complaint and request for information raised through queries raised herein is based on the Gazette Extraordinary of 19 January, 2005 bearing no.1376/9 issued under the Food Act No.26 of 1980.

This Gazette provides notification of regulations on “labelling and advertising” of all goods and services sold or made available to consumers in Sri Lanka and is noticed as “Food (Labelling and Advertising) Regulations 2005”.

The public as consumers are thus made aware,

01. No person shall sell, offer for sale, expose or keep for sale or advertise for sale, any food contained in a package or container unless such package or container is labelled in accordance with these regulations.

02. The package or container shall bear a label upon which declaration in respect of the food contained in such a package or container shall be clearly and conspicuously displayed.

What has to be declared on the label in respect of the food in a package or container is spelt out in the gazetted regulation(s) under Section 4(1) and (2), as, (i) common name of the contents (ii) brand or trade name if any (iii) net contents in international symbols; ‘g’ or ‘kg’ for solids and ‘ml’ or ‘l’ for liquids (iv) permitted food additives (v) instructions for storage (vi) name and adress of manufacturer, packer and distributor in Sri Lanka (vii) batch number or code marking (viii) manufactured and expiry date or date of packing and most importantly a complete list of ingredients used in such food by their common names in descending order of their proportions. All details have to be in at least 02 of the 03 languages used here in Sri Lanka and the font sizes are also clearly stated in the regulations.

In the case of Coca Cola either wholly manufactured here in Sri Lanka or brought in bulk, mixed and packed here in Sri Lanka, most important content details that should be provided on the main panel of the label under the above gazetted regulations are not provided in any form, thus violating the law of the land.

My query to you therefore is,

1) While you have all the authority to institute legal action against Coca Cola under this regulation as per the Consumer Protection Act now in force, why had no action been taken to date?

2) If my question above is not valid for any reason, why is it so ?

3) If Coca Cola in fact is violating the above regulation that I am convinced they are, will you institute legal action immediately, taking this letter as a formal complaint of a consumer ?

4) If not why?

Do please note the template provided for complaints in your official website is not designed for consumers, but for businessmen. This is therefore sent through my personal e-mail and the e-mail address could be used for contact.

Shall expect an early response for the queries raised.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely

Kusal Perera