Food and Drugs Board destroys expired products

Sunyani, June 15, GNA - The Sunyani zonal office of the Food and Drug Board (FDB) on Wednesday destroyed unregistered drinks, herbal medicines and some expired products at a landfill site in Sunyani.

The market value of the products seized from pharmaceutical, wholesale and retail shops in the municipality was GHC 180,225.

At a media briefing after the exercise Mr. Matthew Gyang Nkum, Sunyani zonal officer of the FDB, advised the general public to be cautions when buying products.

He urged the public to ensure that they check the expiry dates of any product and also buy from shops with proper hygienic conditions especially when buying meat, frozen foods, pastries and bread.

Mr. Nkum said to safeguard public health and to achieve the highest standard of safety, efficacy and quality for all foods, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices and household chemical, the FDB embarked on several routine regulatory activities such as Post Market Surveillance.

Post market surveillance, he explained, is a routine regulatory exercise conducted in warehouses, wholesales or retail supermarkets, pharmaceuticals and licensed chemical shops to rid the market of unwholesome products.

Mr. Nkum said the Labeling Regulation, LI 1541 required that product information provided on the label of products intended for the Ghanaian market is in English and the language of its origin.

The product label must bear the name, list of ingredients, manufacturing and expiry dates, batch number, country of origin and address of the manufacturer.