Patna, March 6: The state excise department today directed its officials to get in touch with Bihar State Beverages Corporation Limited (BSBCL) — the wholesaler of foreign liquor and beer in the state — and find out which retail liquor shops were supplied with beer cases surpassing their shelf life.

Krishna Paswan, the assistant commissioner of excise department, Patna, told The Telegraph today: “The expiry date of beer cases of two brands was February 29. But they were despatched to shops. A direction has been issued from the excise department to its inspectors to procure a list of the retail shops where the cases were supplied from the BSBCL depot. The officials are at the BSBCL depot now and the work is on. Once the list comes to us, our department officials will visit the shops and stop any further sale of the beer bottles in those cases. They will be destroyed in a day.”

The Telegraph had reported in its March 6, 2012 edition that beer bottles surpassing shelf life had reached some retail stores in the city, sipping which could cause health hazards. Like yesterday, none of the BSBCL officials answered calls today.

Nawal Kishore Singh, a liquor dealer, told The Telegraph: “Such a thing should not have taken place. The excise department might claim to be acting and taking steps now, but the retailers might have already sold a lot of expired stuff. It is high time that the department officials pulled up their socks to prevent such incidents.”

More than 7,000 cases of two popular beer brands, manufactured on September 1, 2011, were dispatched to 20 shops late evening on February 29 — the day their shelf life expired. A beer bottle is best for consumption up to six months of its manufacturing date.