As the festive season beckons, the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has cautioned Ghanaians to be very particular of the kind of food items they buy from the market.
It said this is because some retailers and importers sell unwholesome products to oblivious consumers during festive seasons, which can be harmful to them.
In an interview, the acting Head of Communications of the FDA, Mr. James Lartey explained what consumers should look out for when purchasing a food product in this season.
“When buying pre-packaged food products, you must always look out for the expiry or best-before date, which are typically the dates that guarantee the wholesomeness of the food products.
“When you see the date marking BB: 20/12/20, it means that the manufacturer cannot guarantee the safety and/or quality of the product after December 20, 2020.”
He added that for products with date marking ‘Expiry: 20/12/20’, it meant that, in the manufacturer’s estimation, such a product could not be consumed after December 20, 2020.
He further explained that there were some date markings that came with only the month and the year.
“For example, products with date markings ‘Exp: 12/20’ means that you cannot consume that product after the last day of December 2020.
“For products with manufacturing date 20/12/20; shelf life: two years, it means that the manufacturer cannot guarantee the safety and or quality of the product two years after the manufacturing date,” Mr Lartey further indicated.
“Remember; you are what you eat. So let’s make food safety our lifestyle and collective responsibility as we follow the COVID-19 protocols,” he said.
Mr. Lartey reiterated that, December in particular, was the period when some contaminated products such as consumable goods, particularly confectioneries, flooded the market with some of them coming in without registration and some almost expired.
He said as part of efforts by the FDA to fight food poisoning threats ahead of the festive season, the authority is advising consumers to remain vigilant and look out for food items that are unhealthy on the market and avoid compromising on cheap food products which comes in attractive packages.
He said those who receive hampers as gifts should take note of the expiry dates of the items in the hamper individually in order not to compromise the safety and health of themselves and loved ones.
“It is also important for the recipients of such hampers not to keep them for a long time but to open them early enough to ensure that the products do not expire or go bad,” he added.
He took that opportunity to advise Ghanaians to reject items on the market whose inscriptions are in any other language apart from English. He emphasized that such products are not approved by the FDA.
Mr. Lartey stressed that before the FDA approved a foreign product on the market, the instructions are made to be written clearly in English, with clear manufacturing and expiry dates.
“Anything short of that means that the FDA cannot guarantee the safety and efficacy of that particular product and therefore, it is not supposed to be on our market.
“People should report such products to the FDA and we will trace and close down the shops selling those products,” he said.
