The president of the Defensoría del Consumidor, Ricardo Salazar, explained that the objective is to safeguard all the rights of the population in aspects of safety and commercial matters. The fairground is a point where there is a large influx of salvadorans, that is why they perform checks to avoid the issue of expired product.

The Defensoría del Consumidor has made around 150 inspections to different businesses in the country: restaurants, hotels, convenience stores, and other food service businesses.

As part of these actions, 28 findings of non-compliance have been detected, which mainly refers to the sale of expired product.

There are 133 expired products that have been withdrawn from the market in which stands out: different varieties of bread, snacks, seasonings, carbonated beverages and expired products in restaurant kitchens.

"The sanctioning procedure has been initiated which refers up to fines of 500 minimum wages. Likewise, the Defensoría del Consumidor is attentive to all the information published by the suppliers; in this matter, we have found seven findings in stores and hotels", said Salazar.

This operation is carried out within the framework of the august holidays and runs from july 25 to august 7, 2023 and includes the approach and provision of services to the consumer. The institution has made available extraordinary service hours through non-face-to-face means: the 910 number, on tuesday, august 1, wednesday, august 2 and monday, august 7, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., and WhatsApp 7844-1482.

Translated by: A.M