It took an official complaint from the Panamanian health authorities to alert the authorities in Peru that the evaporated milk exported to Panama was, in fact, not milk. Once again, the Peruvian regulatory authorities are being questioned for not standing up for the consumer and conniving with the producer, in this case Leche Gloria.

The alarm bell that sounded in Panama over Gloria’s Pura Vida product was soon ringing in Lima, where the Ombudsman (Defensor del Pueblo) claimed that Leche Gloria was out of order in claiming that Pura Vida milk was not quite what it says on the tin, and that having a picture of a cow on the can was misleading to the consumer. A meeting of the committee in Congress was hastily called, but was rendered inquorate, apparently after several committee members received mysterious phone calls.

The environmental health authority in Peru, Digesa, is now to write a report on the denomination of Gloria’s product, which will provide the competition and regulatory authority, Indecopi, with the wherewithal to decide what to do next.

Peru’s regulatory agencies have been repeatedly criticised for failing to stand up for the consumer against the interests of producers. This is particularly the case of the milk industry where Gloria has a near-monopoly over the processing of milk. Other industries that suffer from such near-monopoly situations include the beer industry and the media.

Producers say that, in the absence of competition, they are forced to sell to Gloria at rock-bottom prices. Gloria is run by the Rodriguez family which acquired the trade mark from Carnation in the 1980s.