Public Cautioned On Unregistered Soft Drinks On The Market

The Food and Drugs Board (FDB) on Wednesday cautioned the public against patronizing soft drinks from Ambiance Farms and Food Processing and Sunrise farms and Drinks Company Limited. It said since the products had not been registered by the FDB, it could not guarantee the safety of the products. A release in Accra signed by the Chief Executive of the Board, Dr Stephen Opuni, said the Board had not registered the underlisted products since the manufacturers’ activities had not been assessed for compliance with current codes of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). The products are Allylinka Orange Flavoured drink and Allylinka Cola drink manufactured by Ambiance Farms and Food Processing and Sunrise Pineapple Juice, Sunrise Apple Juice and Sunrise Orange Juice manufactured by Sunrise Food and Drinks Company Ghana Limited. The release said information obtained from one Eric Owusu, a suspect who was found distributing the Allylinka products indicated that Ambiance Farms and Food Processing operated from a compound house at Adum in Kumasi whilst the address provided on the label indicated that drinks were produced in Accra. It said the company had also not employed any qualified person with the requisite skills and knowledge to ensure the safety and quality of the company’s product. The production facility of Sunrise Food and Drinks Company, Ghana Limited, a Chinese company, has also not been certified by the Food and Drugs Board. “There is therefore no guarantee that products from these companies are free from disease causing microbes”, the release said. In view of the above observations, the release asked the general public not to patronise and use the products. Meanwhile, Mr Owusu, a Chinese representative of Sunrise Food and Drinks Company Ghana Limited has been arrested and handed over to the Police for further investigation. It said samples of the products would be assessed for their microbiological and physico-chemical safety whilst measures were also underway to remove the product from retail trade and samples. The Board urged the public not to hesitate to bring to its attention any person or persons who may be clandestinely producing food products for public consumption.