Expired Goods Siezed

OFFICIALS from the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) and the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) yesterday seized large quantities of expired, dented and ineligibly labelled goods from shops in Accra.

Among the goods seized were, canned minerals, cooking oil, alcoholic beverages, chocolates, non-iodised salt, powdered milk and tinned fish.

Mr Carl Tufuoh, a Biochemist and Public Relations Officer of GSB, Mr Ebenezer Kofi Essel and Mrs Sarah Anku, both regulatory officers of FDB led the exercise. Mr Tufuoh said, the exercise was aimed at eliminating shoddy goods on the local market in order to ensure consumer safety.

The team looked at the name of product, composition, net weight, date of manufacture and expiry, instructions for use, batch number, name of manufacturer, direction for use, warning among others. Most of the goods were without the statutory requirements indicated above.

Inventory was taken of all the seized goods and a one-week ultimatum was given to defaulters to re-label all products.

According to the team, officials of the GSB, FDB, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly and other regulatory bodies will be detailed to destroy all the unwholesome goods if the traders refuse to comply with the directive.

The exercise will be extended to the regions very soon. Mr Tufuoh appealed to all shop owners to meet the requirements of the regulatory bodies to avoid prosecution.

He also appealed to manufacturers and importers to register their products with the appropriate regulatory bodies.