The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) in the Upper West Region has destroyed a large quantity of expired, unregistered and banned consumer products seized during an extensive market surveillance exercise aimed at safeguarding public health.
The operation, conducted across all 11 municipalities and districts in the region between January 2025 and March 2026, led to the confiscation of various unsafe products, including banned alcoholic beverages and cosmetic products containing hydroquinone.
Among the items destroyed were 89 cartons of banned mixed alcoholic drinks and significant quantities of unregistered skin-lightening products containing hydroquinone, a substance prohibited in cosmetic products in Ghana since 2015 due to its harmful health effects.
Speaking during the destruction exercise, the Upper West Regional Head of the FDA, Mr Kelvin Dafaari Sunkpal, said the operation formed part of the Authority’s efforts to eliminate unsafe products from the market and protect consumers.
“As you can see, these are expired products, unregistered products and banned mixed alcoholic drinks that were seized across the 11 municipalities and districts in the region. We are here today to safely dispose of these products,” he said.
Although the total value of the confiscated goods has yet to be determined, Mr Dafaari Sunkpal described the volume of products removed from circulation as substantial.
The seized cosmetic products included 85 packs of Clairmen and 23 packs of Carol White, both found to contain unsafe levels of hydroquinone.
Explaining the ban on the alcoholic beverages, Mr Dafaari Sunkpal said the FDA had outlawed drinks that combine alcohol with stimulants such as caffeine because of the potential health risks associated with their consumption.
He noted that manufacturers and distributors had been given until March 2026 to recall the affected products from the market, but subsequent inspections revealed that some traders were still selling them.
“These are drinks that the FDA banned last year. We gave the manufacturers until March this year to recall their products from the market. However, during our market surveillance after March, we still came across several quantities of them,” he stated.
Mr Dafaari Sunkpal disclosed that the Authority has moved beyond public education and is now strictly enforcing regulatory sanctions against offenders.
According to him, traders found selling the banned alcoholic beverages and prohibited cosmetic products were subjected to administrative fines.
“For the alcoholic drinks, they were fined administratively. They paid money to the Authority. The sellers of the cosmetic products were also fined because we have gone beyond the sensitisation stage. We’ve educated them to stop selling these products, but we still find some of them on the market,” he explained.
The FDA has meanwhile urged consumers to exercise caution when purchasing packaged foods, beverages and cosmetic products by checking expiry dates, FDA registration details and other safety information before making purchases.
Mr Dafaari Sunkpal cautioned that using expired or unregistered products could pose serious health risks and called on the public to support the Authority’s efforts by reporting suspicious products.
“We always carry out public education, but consumers also have to be careful about what they eat and use. We should all be each other’s keeper. Let us choose wholesome products and avoid using our hard-earned money to buy sickness for ourselves,” he advised.
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