FDA alerts public to food safety
The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) is asking the public to be wary of fake food products likely to find their way onto the market as the Christmas festivities draw near.
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For its part, the Authority has beefed up its market surveillance to rid the market of fake food products.
It said the consciousness of consumers would go a long a way to augment the efforts of the FDA to prevent some traders from taking advantage of the season to sell expired food products and below standard commodities to consumers.
In an interview with graphic.com.gh, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the FDA, Mr James Lartey said its surveillance had shown such risks were high and listed
food items such as rice, biscuits and drinks, as those likely to be affected the most.
For example he said, some unscrupulous traders repackaged rice of lower quality into the sacks of higher quality brands and passed them off as such for sale.
In that regard, Mr Lartey advised consumers of rice to ensure that the seals of the sacks of rice they bought, were not broken.
“Be sure that the stitches on the seal are intact before you buy any bag of rice,” he advised.
According to him, even though such practices were carried out all year round, it was rife during occasions such as Christmas.
With drinks, Mr Lartey explained that most of them were largely exposed to the effects of the sun which thus, made the product poisonous.
“Some of these products that are exposed to direct sunlight are at risk of getting contaminated and so no matter how cheap it is, you don’t have to buy it,” he urged.
He served notice that bloated or rusty canned products have either expired or are contaminated. “When you buy any product, please check the expiry date," Mr Lartey added.
Story by Justice Baidoo