FDA breaks silence on expired rice scandal

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The Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs for the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Joseph Yaw-Bernie Bennie, has assured the public that as a regulatory body, the FDA remains committed to protecting the health and safety of Ghanaians.

According to him, the authority will not jeopardize the well-being of Ghanaians, especially children or students, under any circumstances.

This follows allegations made by the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who claimed that a total of 22,000 bags of expired and repackaged rice were distributed to various Senior High Schools across the country.

He alleged that the consignment was distributed through the Free Senior High School Secretariat in February this year.

The North Tongu legislator, who also serves as Chair of the Assurances Committee in Parliament, stated that his investigation, launched after a tip-off, revealed that the act was deliberate.

He therefore called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of the directors of Lamens Investments Africa, the company accused of allegedly repackaging and distributing the expired rice.

In an interview on Joy FM’s Midday News on Thursday, November 21, Mr. Yaw-Bernie disclosed that the FDA had intervened in a case involving unlicensed rice repackaging.

This intervention followed a complaint from the police, after which the FDA collaborated with law enforcement to halt the unauthorized activity.

“The company involved was sanctioned for three key violations: operating a facility unlicensed for rice repackaging, conducting repackaging activities without FDA approval, and undertaking the process without supervision,” he said.

Additionally, he noted that the FDA discovered the “best before” date on the rice had expired. Initially, the product was recommended for disposal. However, after international and local laboratory tests conducted by the FDA, the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and a facility in India, it was determined that the rice met quality standards.

Consequently, the “best before” date was extended to April 2024, instead of December 2023 as initially requested by the producer.

“So FDA says that based on this, the date on the rice, as seen on that day, shows that the best before date had expired. So what do you do? The first action to take was that we recommended that the product should simply be disposed of – that was the first recommendation made.

“But again, when the producer applied for the censor, which is internationally accepted, we looked at the quality of the product. Those three laboratory tests – in India, CSIR, and FDA did a confirmatory test which tells us that the product can be used. Based on that, the best before date was extended to April and not December as requested,” he explained.

Mr. Yaw-Bernie emphasized, “The FDA, as a regulatory institution, will not for any reason jeopardize the health and safety of Ghanaians, especially children and students. The FDA will not shy away from handling unsafe products the way they should be handled.”

He assured the public that the FDA strictly enforces regulations, citing previous actions such as destroying unsafe imported rice consignments and addressing food safety issues in schools.

“Not too long ago, we dealt with an incident in one of the northern regions where a school was serving products unfit for human consumption. We acted swiftly to protect public health,” he added.

 

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