Beware of expired products
The Head of Communications of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Mr James Lartey, has cautioned children to be wary of expired products being sold on the market. Mr Lartey said when children consumed expired products such as biscuits, drinks and toffees, it could have serious consequences on their health.
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He, therefore, advised children to always to check the expiry dates of the products before they buy them.
He said children usually ate a lot of toffees, biscuits and soft drinks which sometimes did not have expiry dates.
Mr Lartey warned children not to buy products when the names of manufacturers had not been printed on them.
According to Mr Lartey, children must desist from buying products which have been exposed to direct sunlight since the quality of the product might be compromised.
“When a product is exposed to direct sunlight, the consumer is not guaranteed of the nutritional values of the product and the best is to avoid them,” he added.
Explaining issues about expired products, Mr Lartey said when a product for instance had ‘best before January 2, 2017,’ it meant that the product should be taken off the shelf before that date.
He, however, stated that if the expiry date stated that the product would expire on January 2, 2017, then it could be on the shelf till that day.
Mr Lartey asked children not to buy products that did not have their labelling in English Language as that made it difficult for the consumer to read and understand how to use the product.
He noted that the FDA ensured that such products were not imported into the country so if consumers saw any of such products on the market, then it had been smuggled into the country and it was, therefore, dangerous for consumption.
The FDA Head of Communications also advised against products that did not have expiry dates, batch numbers or LOT numbers because when there was any problem with the products, they could not be easily traced.