FOOD AND DRUGS BOARD IMPOUNDS UNWHOLESOME FLOUR (PAGE 25)

The Takoradi Zonal Office of the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) has impounded 338 bags of unwholesome flour that are being sold to the general public at a reduced price at a warehouse located along the Axim Road in Takoradi.
The consignment will be destroyed after thorough investigation by the board.
The flour, branded ‘Selected Hard-Spring Wheat Flour’, milled by G.M.G in Tema, is being kept at the Royal Bow Company Limited, a Lebanese warehouse, and are being sold to the public at a reduced price of GH¢55 per bag instead of the original price of about GH¢63.25.
Officers from the Takoradi Zonal office of the board who went to the warehouse following a tip-off have taken inventory of the caked flour and issued a notice of detention/seizure to the management of the warehouse.
The board also found other bad products at the warehouse.
Some of the products are bags of rice and sugar, edible oil, Lele laundry soap, Saba soap, Soft Silk beauty soap, margarine, as well as assorted plastic products.
The FDB has ordered the management of the warehouse to take inventory of the other spoiled products and submit it to the zonal office in Takoradi for destruction.
The Zonal Officer of the FDB in charge of the Western and Central regions, Mr George Pentsil, who led the team, said the board had to do a little more investigation, since the management said they collected them from the factory in Tema.
"They are completely caked and not good for human consumption,” he said, adding that they could be recycled at the factory.
"Quality flour must maintain its quality, otherwise it compromises the quality and safety of the product," he emphasised.
He said the board had been calling on consumers to notify them of the kind of products they bought from the market for onward investigations.
Mr Pentsil said the board had been doing regular inspections of bad products at the market, saying, "We inspect and check. Inspections are procedural, we inspect them periodically."
He also said the warehouse was not properly kept to the rule and it was also not well ventilated, adding that "the items are packed close to the wall and the flour can absorb moisture".
The Manager of the warehouse, Mr Ahmed Termos, who was furious with the reporter and the cameraman, earlier said the spoilt flour was being kept in the warehouse for three weeks but had caked as a result of heat.