‘Unsafe’ flour in circulation in Cameroon

A group of local producers has just put consumers on guard against some brands of flour “unfit for consumption” currently in circulation in the country.

In a statement issued on April 5, 2016, the Groupement des Industries Meunières du Cameroon (GIMC) attracts the attention of consumers of a “fraudulently imported and unsafe” flour is currently in circulation in the country, particularly in the city of Kousserie in the Far North region.

These are, according to the news release, the brands “Spécial beignet” and “La spéciale boulangère”. These products, we learn, marketed by a company called Agro-alimentaire Inter Distribution (AAID) are “not only imported fraudulently” but “not in accordance with the Cameroonian standard of wheat flour”, which requires from local producers a strong flour and rich in nutritional value, enriched with vitamins essential for human health protection.

On the local market, there are two flours with similar names to those of the products in question: “ASSO” (farine spéciale beignets) and “la Boulangère” (farine haut de gamme) marketed by the Grand Moulin du Cameroon (GMDC) company under the “Grand Moulin” brand.

“The first product mentioned is used by production machines and donut vendors with specific requirements particularly regarding elasticity, oil absorption and water or ability to brownwhile the second is called upon by the bakers for production of loaves of bread,“ one reads.

Officials of the SGMC are declining the responsibility of their company compared to the flour denounced by the Association of Industrialists, whose bags have been spotted in the town of Kousseri. “This smuggling is likely to create confusion in the minds and industrial responsibility problem,” admits a staff of the SGMC.

In May 2015, the Cameroon Customs intercepted a cargo of 230 tonnes of imported wheat flour, not respecting the Cameroonian standards. It is good to know that in Cameroon, flour distributors are obliged to comply with regulations and must produce all documents required.

These documents are: a certificate of origin, an analysis report, prior authorization of the competent authority in Cameroon, a quality certificate issued by an accredited body of country of origin attesting the conformity of this flour imported with Cameroonian standards, a certificate of compliance and quality issued by the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Technological Development, and finally a sale authorization issued by the Ministry of Commerce.