The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has clarified why it extended the best-before date on the rice allegedly repackaged by Lamens Investment Africa and distributed to Senior High Schools nationwide.
According to the FDA’s Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs, Joseph Yaw-Bernie, the date was revised from December 2023 to April 2024 after thorough quality assessments.
He added that initially, the FDA cracked down on Lamens Investment Africa for repackaging rice with an expired “best-before” date, recommending that the product be disposed of.
However, following international and local laboratory tests conducted by the FDA, the Centre for Scientific Research (CSIR), and an accredited laboratory in India, it was determined that the rice met quality standards.
Consequently, the “best before” date was extended to April 2024.
“The FDA found that the product could still be consumed safely based on confirmatory tests from three laboratories. While the producer initially requested an extension to December 2024, we approved it only until April 2024.
“We also required Lamens to provide further evidence from the manufacturer to justify any additional extensions,” he said.
“They [Lamens] applied for an extension of the best-before date and we took them through the processes and once they qualified to have the date extended, we did that,” Mr Yaw-Bernie added in an interview on Joy News.
He further indicated that the rice remained safe for consumption during the extension period and noted that the company was fined GHS 100,000 for repackaging the rice without FDA approval.
The FDA’s clarification follows allegations made by the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, that the National Food Buffer Stock Company colluded with Lamens Investments Africa Limited to distribute the expired rice.
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According to Mr Ablakwa, the buffer stock’s storage facility in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, was used to repackage expired rice imported from India.
He claims the rice, which expired in December 2023, was placed in locally produced sacks labelled “ECOWAS” and “Made in Ghana rice,” but with no expiry date.