By: Joyce Kantam Kolamong
The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), has bemoaned the rate at which certain foods are adulterated for human consumption in recent times.
The Authority says some common food products adulterated include, but are not limited to, the adulteration of palm oil with Sudan Dyes, milled pepper with sawdust, and agushe with gari, among others.
The North East Regional Director of FDA, Jacob Amoako-Mensah, who said this at a meeting with the Nalerigu Business Union at Nalerigu, said some of the adulterants are not permitted to be in foods and may have serious consequences for vital human organs, including cancer.
He thus called on market women to practice personal hygiene at the market and ensure that the agricultural produce they deal in are not contaminated. The meeting was aimed at ensuring compliance and safeguarding public health and safety at all times.
Mr. Amoako-Mensah said FDA used to operate from Tamale with the oversight responsibility of ensuring regulation within the North East Region, a situation which did not promote the needed collaboration the Authority wanted to have with stakeholders within the region. He said the Authority, in its quest to promote public health and safety, has established its presence in the Region.
Mr. Amoako-Mensah called for the need for regulatory compliance in the conduct of their businesses since the products traded in by the union are regulated by the Authority. He said the FDA is in the region to ensure public health and safety and not to intimidate business operators.
Mr Amoako-Mensah further revealed that since the Authority started operations in the North East Regions, the Authority has conducted market surveillance at almost all “over-the-counter medicine sellers in the six districts of the North East Region and retrieved several unregistered, expired, and fake medicines from these sellers.
He said in view of the importance of the role of the market in promoting food safety, the FDA, as part of this year’s World Food Safety Day Celebrations, will organize market durbar on August 8 at the Nalerigu market under the theme, “Food Standards, Save Lives”.
He said the Authority will safely dispose of these products and cautioned operatives to ensure that pharmaceutical products they purchase and deal in are registered with the Authority.
Public Relations Officer of the Business Union, Salifu Tia Sandaway, commended the FDA for bringing regulation closer to them, which has heightened public health and safety in the region. He further stressed the need for all the union members to collaborate effectively to promote not only product safety but, most importantly, public health.
The Nalerigu Bisness Union, NABSU, is made up of retailers of regulated products of the FDA, owners of fast-food joints, restaurant operators, and market queens and administrators.
