The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has cautioned the general public to be extra vigilant as they shop for the Christmas eve.
Senior Regulatory Officers with the Ashanti Regional FDA, Mr. Isaac Aviah and Madam Bridget Ofori Yeboah said the caution was neccessary as some importers would try to take undue advantage of the Christmas occasion to flood the market with cheap, substandard and fake products and expired to the detriment of some consumers.
Speaking on Silver FM’s Morning show on Thursday, December 9, 2021 chaired by Nana Ampratwum, Mr. Isaac Aviah further warned the public to avoid purchasing poorly stored consumable products as well as products that had been over exposed to the sun as the health implicatons of such products on the consumer could be deadly.
He noted that some importers took advantage of some Ghanaians’ patronage of cheap goods and products, to import these substandard goods into the market for personal gain.
He expressed worry that “such products come in because people know that there is market for them.”
On her part, Madam Bridget Ofori Yeboah said though the Authority had put in place strategies to stop the introducton of such products onto the market and to eliminate those that were already in the market to ensure public safety, the greater responsibility lay with consumers as they reserved the choice and power to decide on what to patronise.
She indicated that, cheap products mostly come with questionable quality issues hence consumers should be extra vigilant shopping for this Christmas.
“The Market Surveillance Unit of the authority had intensified its activities despite its human resource constraints to protecting consumers,”she added.
She disclosed that, the authority is also sensitising consumers and market women about fake and substandard products since these products can also be smuggled into the local market through unofficial routes.
Finally, both Senior Regulatory Officers urged the public to support them with information on distributors of fake good on the market.
“We are pleading with the general public to liaise with the authority to clean the market from fake products”, the officers stressed on the program monitored by filasconews.
