Agri National

Audio: FDA Sets Eagle Eye on Palm Oil Consumption

By Joyce Bedeley:

Eastern regional Director of The Food and Drugs Authority has revealed to Rite news that it has taken steps to monitor palm oil used for cooking in schools in the Eastern region and the entire region by extension to ensure its safety for consumption. Mr. Samuel  Kwakye, Eastern Regional Director of the FDB in the interview on Monday asserted that though the contamination of palm oil with Sudan -4 dye, a chemical, considered to be a cancer agent, had reduced considerably, there was the need to focus on institutions that consume palm oil in large quantities.

According to him, monitoring would be carried out at all the palm oil production sites and the open markets in the region through testing and analyzing the samples to prevent the use of the deadly chemicals. Mr. Kwakye further explained that the move had become necessary due to the large student population in the Senior High Schools across the region where palm oil is supplied in large quantities for cooking.

Explaining the processes of testing the palm oil, the Regional Director noted that testing of the palm oil can’t be done physically unless through a laboratory test. According to him, though most consumers are not discerning enough to judge the quality of the oil, some of them are able to do so through the color of the oil.

‘We would also step up a sensitization and education campaigns to create awareness for consumers to appreciate the need to read information on products to ascertain its safety and to report anything unusual about products to the Food and Drugs Authority for actions to be taken,’ Mr. Kwakye assured.

In an earlier interview, Mr. Kwakye explained that some activities planned for the year included the monitoring of sachet water and herbal medicine production sites, adding that those two industries needed to comply with several regulations and laws of the FDA to protect consumers.

He said the FDA had noted with concern, the influx of herbal medicines, in the open markets and vehicles in the region and Koforidua especially and indicated their readiness to descend on all the illegal productions in that industry.

Mr Kwakye, explained that because herbal drugs had direct implications on the body just like all drugs, it was important for the components of each drug to be tested to ascertain the efficacy for human consumption and the environment under which they were produced to avoid contamination.

He said they would also step up their sensitization and education to create awareness for consumers to appreciate the need to read information on products to ascertain its safety, and to report any unusual detection to the FDA for action.

Source: ritefmonline.org

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