14ymedio, Havana, 20 July 2022 — Consumers who purchase from the ration market at the bodega on Barcelona street between Águila and Amistad in Centro Habana have been in for a bitter surprise this week. Powdered milk intended for children under seven years of age has arrived at the establishment contaminated with cockroaches. After several days of delay in the receipt of the product, some clients denounce the presence of these insects and the lack of hygiene in the handling of the precious dairy product.
Rosalba Toledo was one of those affected by the problem. “I went to look for milk for my ten-month-old daughter and I found cockroaches mixed with the powder,” this mother from Havana told 14ymedio. “When I complained they told me that this is how all the bags were. I then went to the municipal government of Centro Habana on Reina street and they recommended that I go to the office of the Ministry of Internal Trade on Carlos III Avenue.”
“The director attended me there,” adds Toledo. “She was concerned, but the problem is greater than her concern because everything indicates that the milk is contaminated from the supply warehouse.” Toledo now has the dilemma of whether to return the milk powder, hoping that when they re-supply she can buy her daughter’s quota without the addition of cockroaches, but the instability in the supply source makes her doubt it.
For Lianet de Milián there is no doubt that what happened is based on the fact that “the authorities do not care” about the final state of the food that reaches homes. “Later they bluster that the ‘basic basket’ is available and the milk they give to the children is guaranteed,” criticizes the woman.
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