Mr Jonathan Osei Owusu, a human rights activist, has filed a suit at the Human Rights Court in Accra against Fan Milk Ghana Limited (FML) and Food and Drugs Board (FDB) for the alleged sale of expired Fanyogo products on the Ghanaian market.
The suit follows a severe stomach ache Mr Osei Owusu said he suffered which resulted in his hospitalisation, after eating a Fanyogo product he purchased in August, 2009 from one of the company’s vendors.
In a statement of claim, Mr Owusu, who is also the Executive Director of POS Foundation in Accra, is asking the court to order FML to fix legible expiry dates on the Fanyogo products as well as stop the sale of its milk products carried by vendors in the hot sun.
He said the court must also order the FDB to ensure that the FML fixed a legible expiry date on the product and had effective monitoring mechanism to protect public interest and safety.
Mr Owusu also said the court should order FML to immediately recall all Fanyogo products on the Ghanaian market until legible expiry dates were fixed on the product.
He said the court should place an injunction on the company’s production, especially Fanyogo, until they had met the condition and recalled the product on the market.
Mr Osei Owusu is asking the court to award cost and damages against the company for the number of weeks he had to stay at home and the payment of his hospital bill.
He said a number of attempts were made to find an amicable and useful solution as it affected the public as well as individuals involved, but both FML and the FDB treated “the alarming issue with disrespect and contempt”.