Julius Debrah must apologise over ‘Kalyppo claim’ – Group

A group calling itself, Concerned Ghanaians for Local Products, has asked the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, to “retract, apologise” or prove his scientific claim for saying that Kalyppo fruit drink is not good for the health of Ghanaian adults.

According to him, the drink was meant for kids and not adults because of its high sugar concentration.

“I am pleading with you that you the adults here if you take Kalyppo, the sugar content can leave you with some sickness so please don’t take it,” Mr. Debrah told NDC supporters at Wenchi in the Brong Ahafo region where he is campaigning for President John Mahama ahead of the December polls.

But a statement co-signed by Ernest Ampadu and Aresa Ansah Patrick, Secretary and Deputy Secretary, respectively of the Concerned Ghanaians for Local Products, said: “This comment from the honourable man does not only come to us as a shock but is also very disturbing considering the number of years some of us have been drinking Kalyppo.

“We are of the view that it is the responsibility of the government to ensure the safety of its citizens, so, if the Chief of Staff knows that Kalyppo is not good for our health, why won’t he advise his government to take action? Since when did he realise this? Why would he wait till now?

“Is he aware that Kalyppo has been approved by FDA, which was established under the laws of Ghana? Or Mr Debrah does not have trust in the FDA? When did the Chief of Staff become a nutritionist?”

See full statement below:

APOLOGISE AND RETRACT OR PROVE YOUR CLAIM WITH SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE;

Concerned Ghanaians For Local Products.

It has come to our notice that, the chief of staff, Mr Julius Debrah, has cautioned Ghanaian adults to stay away from drinking kalyppo fruit juice because it is not good for their health.

“I am pleading with you that you adults here if you take kalyppo, the sugar content can leave you with some sickness so please don’t take it”, the chief of staff is reported to have said this.

This comments from the honourable man does not only come to us as a shock but also very disturbing considering the number of years some of us have been drinking kalyppo.

We are of the view that it is the responsibility of the government to ensure the safety of its citizens so if the chief of staff knows that kalyppo is not good for our health, why wont he advice his government to take action? Since when did he realise this? Why would he wait till now?

Is he aware that kalyppo has been approved by FDA, which was established under the laws of Ghana? Or Mr. Debrah does not have trust in the FDA.

When did the chief of staff become a nutritionist?

The government has always been preaching about patronizing made in Ghana goods but we believe comments like this are not healthy since it can reduce sales of kalyppo and could result to the collapse of the company.

Let’s not preach virtue and practice vice. If we really mean well for our local companies to grow, we should desist from comments like this that has no scientific evidence.

We hold a strong conviction that comments like this seek to campaign faintly against kalyppo juice and so humbly plead with him to either apologise and retract or prove his claim with scientific evidence to prevent other adults from drinking kalyppo.

Failure to do this, we may be forced to sue him to defend his claim in court.