Police yesterday discovered two warehouses used to store expired food near The Bluff in KZN.

Food items such as canned fish, fizzy drinks, soya beans and baby food, and spices, which are mostly used on chips, were found stored with hazardous chemicals, such as pesticides.

According to the police, the expired food and other goods were allegedly imported.

KZN police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshunda says during an undercover operation, police also found counterfeit prescription medication, body lotion and expired alcoholic beverages in the warehouses.

“During the operation police also discovered another two warehouses which were storing counterfeit big-brand clothing items worth millions of rands.

“Investigations are underway to locate the people responsible for the sale of expired food which is mostly sold at township and village spaza shops, as well as the importers of fake clothing items,” says Netshunda.

The police have intensified operations to detect vessels that come into the country carrying prohibited items and products that have not been authorised to be in the country.

KZN Premier Thami Ntuli was at the scene.

The provincial commissioner of KZN, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, commended the various units that discovered the warehouses and vowed not to leave any stone unturned in search of the people who put the lives of South Africans at risk, especially children, who buy expired food from spaza shops.