Food and Drugs Board advises public on food and drinks for Christmas
Mr Mathew Gyang Nkum, Senior Regulatory Officer of the Food and Drugs Board for the Brong Ahafo Region has cautioned the general public to be cautious about the kind of food products and assorted drinks they purchased during Christmas to avoid health risks.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Sunyani, he observed that during occasions like the yuletide when purchases were high, unwholesome food products and drinks were sold having been brought into the country through unapproved routes.
“The use of unwholesome food products and drinks pose a serious health risk to consumers, including food poisoning that may lead to death,” he said.
Mr Nkum disclosed that the Board had set up post market surveillance at all major markets in the region for spot checks to ensure that consumers were protected from buying food products of poor quality.
He appealed to the public to provide information on food handling practices by vendors that posed a threat to public health.
He asked the public to carefully study the labelling of products they purchased, the manufacturing and expiring dates, registration number, as well as the name of the manufacturer to be sure of the safety of the product.
The senior regulatory officer stated that rusted or tinted containers with food products and drinks should not be consumed but rather be reported at the Board’s consumers’ desk for further investigations to be carried out to protect other people from consuming such products.
Mr Nkum advised the public to buy food and drugs from registered shops and pharmacies and desist from buying from vendors who carried them around or displayed in the sun.
He called on shop owners not to sell expired drugs and food products to customers as it violated the provisions of food and drugs law, warning that any one who engaged in the practice could be fined by a law court or imprisoned or both.
The senior regulatory officer asked shop owners and sellers to keep their products in appropriate storage conditions and inform the Board about all expired products to supervise their destruction to ensure public health and safety.
Mr Nkum entreated the public to give the Board the needed support to ensure the effective monitoring of food and drugs in the market and gave the assurance of the Board’s readiness to ensure public health and safety.
Source: GNA