FDA WESTERN REGIONAL OFFICE ENGAGES CITIZENS ON SAFETY PRACTICES

The Western Regional Office of Food and Drug and Authority (FDA) has launched a consumer safety awareness campaign dubbed "The Watch Campaign". This is to educate the public on measures needed to ensure the safety of food and other FDA regulated products, especially as the festive season approaches.

With an increase in the manufacture and importation of standard and substandard products, safety awareness is an ever-increasing necessity in ensuring the consumer safety. The Watch Campaign comprises two major components; Public Education through various media outlets, churches/mosques, schools, lorry stations, communities, and other gatherings and Post Marketing Surveillance (PMS) activities to identify and withdraw unregistered, unwholesome, expired, and other non-compliant products from the market.

In addition, it entails three compasses "watch where you are buying from", "whom you are buying from" and "what you are buying".

According to the Regional Head, Mr. Abu Sumaila, the watch campaign is aimed at ensuring the safety, efficacy, and quality of all products in the Ghanaian markets.

He advised consumers to be vigilant when purchasing food or products, he asked that they buy from hygienic environment and purchase only FDA approved products. Speaking on whom to purchase from, he admonished consumers to buy from vendors whose practices do not compromise food safety.

Furthermore, he advised food vendor operators to ensure their environment are free from dirt, dust, stagnant water and open drains/gutters.

Mr. Francis Edem Odum, a Senior Regulatory Officer and coordinator of the post-market surveillance exercise stated that the project is generally geared towards the identification of unregistered, unwholesome, and other non-compliant products both locally manufactured or imported on the Ghanaian markets.

During Post Marketing Surveillance (PMS) activities, FDA inspections team would ensure that products that do not meet the set requirement in conformance to the Food and Drug Authority certification under the Public Health Acts, 2012, Acts 851 are salvage for safe disposal.

The campaign which would be carried would be carried out in all FDA offices before and after the festive seasons to educate the public on looking out and avoiding the purchase of unwholesome, unregistered, expired and suspected fake products; avoiding the purchase of food from business operators whose practices compromise food safety; desists purchasing drugs from peddlers and cease acquiring products with tampered seals, rusty, dented, bloated, damaged, broken, swollen and leaky packaging or defaced date markings.