The Central Regional Office of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has destroyed quantities of unwholesome products to safeguard public health and safety in Cape Coast, Central Region.
The FDA says the action is in accordance with the Public Health Act 2012, ACT 851.
The destroyed items valued at GH¢29,000.00 included non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, milk, herbal medicines, cosmetics, frozen meat and other items.
The products were seized from FDA’s operational zones including pharmacies, hospitals, markets, manufacturing and retail shops through intensive market surveillance across the Region in the last five months.
Mr. John Odai-Tettey, the Regional Director of FDA in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) said, the exercise was to serve as a wake-up call to all manufacturers, importers, individual shop owners, cold-store owners and wholesalers to disengage in the sale of expired, fake and unregistered goods.
He called on consumers to be bold to expose those dealing in unwholesome or expired items by reporting them to the Authority for immediate action.
They must also critically check the expiry date, batch number, labels of food items and legibility of the manufacturers before purchasing the products.
He cautioned persons selling expired products to stop because when caught, sanctions or jail term awaits them depending on the quantity of the expired products on the market.
Mr. Odai-Tettey also advised the consumers to have enough time to always examine products and its environment, especially during the Yuletide when all sorts of products flood the market to safeguard themselves against toxic or outdated products.
He further urged operators of food and drug manufacturers to always exercise good manufacturing practices and avail themselves for training and industrial support programmes routinely organized by the Authority and also licence their operations and products to avoid the consequences.