Unwholesome Tomato Paste Hits Market

The hazardous products

The Northern Regional Zonal office of the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) has destroyed 375 cartons of unwholesome red tomato paste confiscated from a number of shops in the city during its post market surveillance.

The hazardous products, which were being sold at give-away prices to unsuspecting retailers and consumers, belong to Tomato Trading Ghana Company Limited, a Chinese company operating in Ghana.

It would be recalled that managers of the company a couple of days ago were busted by the FDB in Accra after it detected that their products were unwholesome for human consumption.

However, dozens of the products were conveyed to the Northern region attracting a number of market women who scrambled for them.

Officials of the FDB said market women, in their bid to make huge profits, negotiated for several cartons of the unwholesome products despite the foul odor emanating from them.

Sylvester Oteng Kyei Zonal Officer of the FDB told CITY & BUSINESS GUIDE the containers or tins of red Tomato Paste were found to have rusted, bloated and dented and accordingly warned of its health implications if consumed by the public.

He called on residents in other districts in the region to be wary of such cheap products, indicating that its distribution and retail contravened Section 1(a) of the Food and Drugs law 1992 (PNDC L 305B), which states that any person who sells any food that is unwholesome for human or animal consumption commits an office.

The FDB boss appealed to the public to thoroughly check food products they purchase and report suspicious retailers who compromise their health to the FDB.

He hinted that his outfit was looking for other unwholesome cartons believed to have been hidden in private homes in the city.

It called for collaboration in combating the proliferation of unwholesome products in the city.

Meanwhile, the prime suspects have since been arrested in Accra and are being processed for court.

From Stephen Zoure, Tamale