Briefing the media at Ho, the Volta Regional Director of the Food and Drugs Authority Mr. Gorden Akurugu, while assuring the public of efforts by the Authority to ensure the availability of safer food on markets in the region, urged the public to also be vigilant about the food they purchase to consume this festive season.

According to him, the Authority has been on the alert about the possibility of the Indian-produced Simba Rice suspected to be high in Lead Chemical which is not wholesome for human consumption being brought into the country.

This was after a red alert was issued by the National Security Ministry in May 2022, when thousands of samples of rice were intercepted by Nigerian Customs Authorities.

According to Mr. Akurugu, “following an enhanced surveillance operations by the Food and Drugs Authority in collaboration with the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority and the Ghana Standards Authority especially at the Aflao border, 22 bags of 50kgs of the rice were intercepted and impounded at the Aflao border on November 14, 2022.”

According to him, the importer was being held to assist in further investigations and is also pending regulatory sanctions.

“So when we saw the product, with the information from the national security the product was detained and we want the general public to be aware of this Simba Rice coming from India. we can’t rule out that this rice can’t get its way onto the market because of the porous nature of our borders coupled with unapproved routes but we can assure that in approved routes we can and will curtail it like what we have done now,” he noted.

Mr Akurugu also added that the authority through market surveillance on storage facilities in the region in October has led to the identification and seizure of 4 cartons of 27 packs of Pavo Frankfurt IL Wurstel DI Pollo sausages for which an initial red alert has also been issued about its consumption in the country.

“We identified few of the sausages and they are pending disposal today. All what we want the public to know is to ensure that we don’t buy food this festive period that will harm our health or will give us illness. this is the time that when we go to markets we get buy one get one free. Force ripping by trying to force vegetables to get them matured, get them ripe for people to eat because they think they can make money.”

“We want consumers to check whether the product is dented, the product is registered the product is expired and to ensure that they buy product that will not give them allergic effects,” he posited.

He also assured people of the region that their well-being is a priority.