‘Expired’ rice saga: Rice met quality standards – FDA

The Food and Drugs Authority says the 22000 bags of rice which were distributed to Senior High Schools in the country but have been described by MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa as ‘expired rice’ met quality standards.

Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs of the FDA, Joseph Yaw-Bernie Bennie, said following the discovery that the product had expired, it was initially recommended for disposal, however, further tests at the CSIR, FDA and a facility in India determined that it met quality standards.

According to him the FDA was committed to safe-guarding the health of Ghanaians and would not take decisions that would jeopardize the health of Ghanaians.

He explained that the initial decision of the FDA was to order the destruction of the product because the Best Before date had elapsed.

However, the importer, applied for what is referred to as a Censor which is not out of place per international norms, and thereafter the relevant tests were conducted by the CSIR, Food Research and the facility in India.

He added that the FDA did a confirmatory test and recommended that the Best Before Date be extended to April instead of the requested date of December.