FDA assures public of safety amid allegations of expired rice distribution to SHSs
Joseph Yaw-Bernie Bennie, the Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs for the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), has reassured the public of the authority’s unwavering commitment to protecting the health and safety of Ghanaians. He emphasized that the FDA would never compromise the well-being of citizens, especially children and students.
This statement comes in response to allegations by North Tongu Member of Parliament (MP) Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa. The MP claimed that 22,000 bags of expired and repackaged rice were distributed to Senior High Schools across Ghana in February 2024 through the Free Senior High School Secretariat.
Mr. Ablakwa, who also chairs Parliament’s Assurances Committee, alleged that his investigations revealed the act was deliberate. He has called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of directors of Lamens Investments Africa, the company accused of repackaging and distributing the expired rice.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Midday News on Thursday, November 21, Mr. Yaw-Bernie disclosed that the FDA had intervened in a case of unlicensed rice repackaging following a complaint from the police. The FDA collaborated with law enforcement to stop the unauthorized activity and took action against the company involved.
“The company involved was sanctioned for three key violations: operating a facility unlicensed for rice repackaging, conducting repackaging activities without FDA approval, and undertaking the process without supervision,” Mr. Yaw-Bernie stated.
He added that the FDA found the “best before” date on the rice had expired. Initially, the product was recommended for disposal. However, after international and local laboratory tests conducted by the FDA, the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and a laboratory in India, it was confirmed that the rice met quality standards. This led to the extension of its “best before” date to April 2024, instead of the December 2023 extension initially requested by the producer.
“So FDA says that based on this, the date on the rice, as seen on that day, shows that the best before date had expired. So what do you do? The first action to take was that we recommended that the product should simply be disposed of – that was the first recommendation made.
“But again, when the producer applied for the censor, which is internationally accepted, we looked at the quality of the product. Those three laboratory tests – in India, CSIR, and FDA did a confirmatory test which tells us that the product can be used. Based on that, the best before date was extended to April and not December as requested,” Mr. Yaw-Bernie explained.
