The Brong Ahafo Regional office of the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) on Wednesday destroyed a truck-load of assorted unwholesome goods worth GH¢8,775.30.
The items included canned foods and drinks, orthodox and herbal medicines, aphrodisiacs, cosmetics and household chemicals.
Mr. Matthew Gyang Nkum, FDB Regional Officer, said at a press conference in Sunyani the items, which posed a health risk to consumers, were seized during the first quarter of 2012 post market surveillances (PMS) conducted in 233 shops, in six districts and three municipalities in the Region.
He mentioned Sunyani East, Berekum and Asunafo North Municipalities; Pru, Sene, Tano North, Jaman South, Atebubu-Amanten and Sunyani West Districts also were some of the areas the exercise was carried out.
The FDB Regional Officer expressed the hope that by the end of the second quarter PMS, the board would have covered the remaining five municipalities and eight districts for a complete exercise in the region.
The exercise will then begin again from one municipality/district to another with the view to ensuring safety, quality and efficacy of products offered for sale in fulfillment of the Board’s mandate, he added.
“The wholesomeness of a product is determined by assessing its label, expiry date, packaging integrity and registration status”, Mr. Nkum explained, and cautioned the general public to be vigilant when purchasing or receiving any consumable product as a gift.
Mr. Nkum stated that, unwholesome products were mainly expired (expiry dates being tampered with), unregistered, wrongly labeled, bloated, dented and rusted goods and consumables; explaining that such items were seized and conveyed to the regional office of the Board to ensure their safe disposal.
The Regional FDB Officer indicated the site and method of disposal of items should ensure environmental safety as well as preventing their re-introduction into the food chain and access to scavengers.
He stressed that, consumers must be cautious when buying products by assessing labels, expiry dates, product nature and packaging integrity before payment.
Mr. Nkum advised wholesale and retail operators to stock quality and safe products and implement Good Storage/Warehouse Practices (GSP/GWP) and environmental hygiene controls.
“Display of products in unsanitary and warm conditions as well as under direct sunlight contributes to product deterioration within the shelf life”, Mr. Nkum explained,.
He reiterated the commitment of FDB to its mandate of ensuring consumer safety and called on society to assist in achieving that goal.
An officer from the Fire Safety Department of the Ghana National Fire Service regional headquarters in Sunyani and personnel from the regional office of Environmental Protection Agency as well as some press men witnessed the destruction of the seized items.**
