Kitwe council says Volcano Brewery fined K30,000 for failing regulations

Mwaka Nakweti, Kitwe City Council Public Relations Manager, has disclosed that the local authority had secured a conviction of Volcano Breweries Limited at the Kitwe Magistrate Court for possessing unpacked traditional beer and selling liquor without a license contrary to the Liquor Licensing Act No. 20 of 2011.

In statement shared with Zambia Monitor in Kitwe on Saturday, Nakweti disclosed that company was also found guilty of selling food under unsanitary conditions and handling food without a certificate of compliance.

The Brewery in this case had been fined a total of K30,000 by the Court as she described the conviction as a big win for the city.

“The Local Authority is happy as this conviction will serve as a deterrent to other breweries, bar, and restaurant owners who may want to or are trading without a liquor license and compliance certificates,” Nakweti said.

She observed that the trend by breweries to stock, convey and sell bulk traditional beer in unrecommended packaging was detrimental to the health of consumers because it made the beer prone to contamination and difficult to ascertain the alcohol content, shelf life, nutritional content, microbial and chemical quality among others.

“The common practice also infringes the Food Safety Act No. 7 of 2019 because the beer is discharged in open drums which are usually dirty and retailers and consumers dip containers in the drums as they serve and consume the traditional beer,” Nakweti said.

She invited breweries in the city and beyond to package their traditional beer in poly-coated liquid conical board/polyethylene terephthalate (PET)/plastic bottles with a minimum quantity of 250mls for the purposes of manufacture, import, export, keeping, stocking, bottling, packaging, conveyance, possession, sell or supply as prescribed by the Liquor Licensing Regulations.

“The Local Authority has intensified inspections to ensure there is compliance, therefore all business premises operating without following the law are reminded to regularize their operations or face prosecution,” Nakweti said.

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