By Margot Thomas

DO YOU regularly  check the expiry dates of products when you are shopping in a supermarket or local  convenience store?  If the answer is “no” its probably time to start.

A recent  report from the Consumer Protection Authority (Acodeco) revealed that ­ in the first four months of this year ­ the institution detected 42,580 products with expired sales dates in different inspections of commercial premises.

The authority  said it also  found ­from January to April 4,259 spot price faults, 3,150 products without expiration dates, 1,842 damaged products and 210 cases of misuse of 25 ­pound gas tanks.

Fines for selling overdue products can reach $50,000. The number of businesses sanctioned was not disclosed.

In total, Acodeco  has  visited 5,991 shops this year, of which 1,937 had some type of anomaly