Food and Drugs Board destroys poultry products

Accra, July 7, GNA - The Food and Drugs Board (FDB) on Monday destroyed 400 carcasses of unwholesome local poultry products worth 15 million cedis out of the 550, which were contaminated with Diazinom, a chemical used in controlling pesticides. The unwholesome products were confiscated by FDB in conjunction with the public health institutions and the Police at Eric Farms at Awutu Beraku in the Central Region after the owner, Eric Sarfo was advised by the Veterinary Officer in the area to bring samples to FDB for advice.

Dr Mohammed Alfa, Regulatory Officer of FDB, briefing the press at Oblogo Refuse Dump Site, where the products were destroyed, said the poultry farmer, after spraying the chemical on the 550 birds, which died within hours decided to dress them for sale without consulting the veterinary services. He said the dressed birds were then distributed to some locations in Awutu Beraku and Accra for sale. "It is very unfortunate that only 400 carcasses were retrieved from people's fridges, it means that the remaining 150 have found themselves on the dining tables in some people's homes."

Dr Alfa said there was the need to pay critical attention to local products just as was done for those imported. He said: "Many local poultry producers operate illegally, therefore, no supervision is conducted to check how these birds are killed and processed. It is also illegal because the locally produced poultry products have no manufacturing and expiring dates to guide consumers", he added. He urged consumers to be mindful of what they bought and to always check the labels on products.

Dr Francis Kunadu-Ampratwum, Principal Veterinary Officer of the Veterinary Services Unit of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, said the chemical used by the farmer could cause coma, nausea, dizziness and diarrhoea in humans. Mr Roderick Daddey-Adjei, Acting Head Food Post Market Surveillance Department of FDB, urged consumers to always insist on their consumer rights by knowing the labelling of every product they bought.