The Foods and Drugs Authority (FDA), the regulatory body mandated by the public Health Act to regulate the safety of food and drugs and others, has in a shocking revelation, indicated that it has just 30 officers who conduct checks on about 500 sachet water producers in the Greater Accra Region.
Although the Head of Communications at the FDA, James Lartey, was unable to mention the actual number of officers directly involved in overseeing the safety of water servicies, he stated that the FDA does not have less than 30 officers who conduct regular checks at the various companies.
He made the revelation while responding to assertions by the Ghana Water Company Limited that about 90 percent of sachet water producers only repackage its raw tap water.
Mr. Lartey on the Citi Breakfast Show dismissed these allegations, saying “the processes that the FDA passes through and the monitoring we do, it is not possible that people will use direct water without filtering and then package it, it is not possible,” he argued.
Asked whether water produced by the Ghana Water Company Limited is purified and safe for drinking, Mr. Lartey said the FDA does not have the mandate to check the quality of water produced by the GWCL, since that is the responsibility of the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA).
“We don’t check them; we do not have the right to check them. Our duty is to regulate the import, export, manufacture, distribution and sale of food , drugs , cosmetics, medical devices and chemicals . Water falls under food, so long as it is processed and packaged, we have the mandate to work on it, but if it is raw we do not have the mandate to work.”
Mr. Lartey also outlined the various processes the FDA goes through before permitting sachet water companies to operate.
According to him , “sachet water producers initially pay an amount for the sample of their product to be tested after which the sample is taken to the water research for analysis.”
He further stated that after the analysis is conducted, the FDA cross-examines the results from the water research and also visits the sachet water companies to ensure that production of sachet water is done hygienically.
“We go to the factory and we look at the processes that you go through, the machines you are using, filters you are using to know whether they are purified. We have another department that will check the labeling of your product. They check whether everything conforms to the labeling law. If we are satisfied with all these things, the FDA gives the approval.”
There has been a back and forth as to whether water from the Ghana Water Company is purified enough, considering that, 29% of Ghanaians now resort to sachet water instead of the raw water from GWCL.
But the GWCL has argued that its water is properly treated and that 90% of the sachet water producers only repackage the raw water without any treatment.
Source: citifmonline.com
