The Consumer Affairs Authority has sealed four warehouses belonging to a leading food importer on Pagoda Road, Nugegoda, following a sudden raid that uncovered serious violations of consumer protection laws, Newswire reported.
The CAA said the warehouses had been supplying bulk food products to hotels and markets across the island. Inspectors found dairy items such as cheese and butter, chocolate and cocoa powder, canned fruits and vegetables, pasta, meat products, and raw materials used in bakery production.
Many of the products carried no importer information, while others had been repackaged into different containers without retaining crucial details such as manufacturing and expiry dates. A stock of expired goods prepared for distribution was also discovered, according to the authority.
The CAA warned that the practices posed a grave risk to public health and consumer safety, and said strict legal action would follow under the Consumer Affairs Authority Act. The agency urged consumers, food manufacturers and hotel owners to check product labels, manufacturing and expiry dates, and importer details when purchasing food items.
The Nugegoda action extends a sustained CAA enforcement campaign over the past several weeks, which has included the seizure of cosmetics and food stock worth Rs. 10 million from Pettah warehouses, a raid on a substandard ayurvedic cream factory in Matale, and Rs. 89 million in fines collected from consumer-law violators between January and April 2026. Bulk-supply chains to the hospitality industry have not been a frequent CAA enforcement target, making the Pagoda Road operation a new front in the agency’s food-safety drive.
Update — June 7: The Gangodawila Magistrate’s Court fined Asriel Marketing (Pvt) Ltd, the company operating the Pagoda Road warehouses, Rs. 75,000 and ordered the destruction of the food stock connected to the case after the company pleaded guilty to multiple consumer protection violations, the Daily Mirror reported. The court was told the company had stored expired food items together with non-expired products, offered goods for sale without displaying importer or distributor details, and acted in a manner likely to mislead consumers. The CAA used the ruling to urge consumers to check labels, manufacturing and expiry dates, and importer or distributor information before buying food, and to report suspect practices on the 1977 hotline.
