Prince Adutwum Opoku, Ashanti Regional Head of Enforcement at the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has cautioned alcoholic beverage and bitters manufacturers against sponsoring programmes meant for children.
They should also desist from raising advertising billboards close to schools and play grounds for children.
Speaking at an engagement with manufacturers and producers of alcoholic beverages and bitters from the Ashanti region in Kumasi, he pointed out that, sponsoring programmes meant for children or raising billboards near schools were against the law and they should desist from doing that.
The engagement, organized by the FDA aimed at educating the producers on the FDA’s registration and advertisement requirements concerning alcoholic beverages and bitters production in the country.
About 71 producers and workers from these companies attended the training workshop.
The participants were led through series of sub-topics such as benefits and disadvantages of following the right procedures in the applications for product registration and advertisement approvals.
Mr Opoku said all scripts and audios for advertisement must be presented to the FDA for approval before their rollout.
After scripts or audios have been approved, producers were expected not to add any information to them as they would be considered as new adverts.
Producers who add additional information to the adverts could be penalised for breaking the law, adding that, adverts approved of by the FDA could be used for a period of one year after which, they have to be re-registered by the FDA through an application process.
Ms Zainab Acheampong, Ashanti Regional Head of the Registration Unit, said the FDA was backed by the Public Health Act, 2012, to regulate food and drugs safety in the country.
“Under the Public Health Act 851, Section 97, the FDA is mandated to register foods either locally manufactured, imported or to be exported,” she stated.
It was, therefore, very important to educate the manufacturers of alcoholic beverages and bitters on the FDA registration requirements to ensure the protection of the public health.
Ms Acheampong noted that, it was expected of the producers to present documents of Certificates of Analysis (COA), and the ingredient lists to the FDA to be either approved or disapproved.
She explained that the COAs must be endorsed by an authorised officer to validate the products’ chemical and microbiological standards.
Additionally, the producers were required to present labels capturing information on the alcohol content, health warning, batch numbers, and packaging standards to prevent contamination.
Ms Acheampong indicated that, before the registration would be approved, the FDA was also mandated to inspect the production process and the facility to be convinced that the public health was being prioritised.
She cautioned that the products could be withdrawn from the market when it was found later to contain substances, which were not presented to the FDA during the registration process.
Again, she indicated that, an approved registration could last for three years after which the product would have to be re-registered or withdrawn from the market.
She disclosed the new directive from the FDA to disapprove the registration of alcoholic beverages packaged below 300 millilitres (mL).
According to Ms Acheampong, information received by the FDA indicated that persons below the age of 18 were found to have mistakenly purchased alcoholic beverages packaged below 300mL as soft drinks.
Mr Nathaniel Nana Kwabena Nkrumah, the Ashanti Regional Director of the FDA, said the engagement was the first in the series with stakeholders.
Other engagements with other stakeholders including the media houses, he noted, would take place in the region to ensure the full implementation of the law backing the FDA.
He encouraged the manufacturers of alcoholic beverages and bitters to form an official regional association to spearhead their activities in the region and to prevent imitations on the market to safeguard their businesses and public health.
Source: GNA
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