The Food and Drugs Authority of Ghana (FDA), is responsible for enforcing pertinent standards to safeguard the public’s health and ensuring the safety, quality, and efficacy of human and veterinary pharmaceuticals, food, biological goods, cosmetics, medical devices, home chemical substances, clinical studies, and tobacco product control.
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) conducted a study that proved that a good number of the sachet water on sale for commercial consumption contained faecal substances. A significant level of ‘Esherichia coli’, a contamination indicator, was found in 34.1 percent of Ghanaian homes that used sachet water as their primary source of drinking water, according to the multiple indicator cluster survey carried out in 2017.
Meanwhile, the FDA has refuted these claims, stating categorically that there are regular examinations of production houses as per the Authority’s guidelines to ensure that packaging materials meet the Authority’s peculiar standards. The inspection includes E. coli, total coliforms, aerobic plate count, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus faecalis and Clostridium perfringens. They reiterated that regular water safety tests and product quality assessments are run on commercial packaged water by their laboratory services.
The Chief executive officer of the FDA in a statement signed, reminded Ghanaians of its mandate to safeguard consumers given by the Public Health Act, 2012 (ACT 851). He explained that the Authority guarantees the safety of bottled and sachet water by licensing the manufacturing facilities and registering these products.
The process, he mentioned covers the beginning of the water production to the packaging stage to ensure Ghanaian standards and the finished goods adhere to GS220:2014 (for mineral water). and GS175-1:2002 (for drinking water) All inspections are carried out in line with the most recent Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) codes, and finished goods are only released if they meet the aforementioned requirements.
According to the regulatory body, the FDA also verifies that companies comply with the production process, which involves Filtration/Reverse Osmosis to remove extraneous material from water sources and UV irradiation to kill lethal disease-causing germs.
The Authority has however advised the public to only purchase bottled and registered sachet water made in Ghana with the FDA product registration numbers and to report any unregistered sachet or bottled water to their nearest office.
There are several reasons why some manufacturers of consumable products do not go to the FDA for licensing and registration. Some could be because of financial constraints or the long process of getting your product verified by the authority. For others, they lack education on receiving the FDA’s approval before putting a product out on the market.
There are many goods in the commercial space that have not been licensed by the authority and though it may be hard for the FDA to kick out all of these products, it will be in consumers’ best interest to adhere to the directives of the authority to purchase only products that have been verified by the Food and Drugs Authority. That is the surest way of safeguarding the consumer from contaminated or harmful food substances.
The FDA on the other must embark on a massive educational campaign to educate manufacturers on the need to first seek approval from the Authority before producing any product for public consumption. There should also be sanctions that will be meted out to the manufacturers of products found in the market, including the recalling of products that do not have the FDA’s approval. Our health is our wealth, and so it is every Ghanaian’s responsibility to ensure their health and safety. Let’s not be lax in this duty by purchasing just any product we find on the market, but rather do our due diligence to ensure the safety of all.