‘Expired rice saga’: FDA’s tests produced damning results – Okudzeto

MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto has accused FDA officials of being complicit in the ‘expired’ rice saga after approving repackaging despite damning results of its own tests.

According to him, the FDA tests revealed high insect infestation and elevated acidity levels for which the rice should not have given to SHS schools.

Speaking on Joy News, Top Story, he said, the FDA officials were complicit in the saga and deserved to be punished because they were influenced to ignore their own tests results.

Local importers if rice, Lamens, repackaged and sold 22000 bags of imported rice from India after the Best Before date on the product had elapsed.

But according to the FDA following an application from the importers, further tests were performed in Ghana and India, the origin of the rice leading to the FDA extending the expiration date to April 2024 instead of December 2023.

This was against the backdrop of an earlier communication from the FDA for the rice to be disposed off following complaints from the police on the sale of unwholesome rice.

The 22,000 bags of rice were later distributed to Senior High Schools in the country after Lamens was fined 100,000 for repackaging the product without authorization and in an unlicensed facility.

Responding to the reaction by the FDA to the ongoing saga, the MP said the FDA ignored its own test results which found high insect infestation and elevated levels of fatty acid.

He added that these findings, according medical experts, rendered the rice unsafe for consumption.

The MP dismissed the claims by the FDA that the rice was safe for consumption stressing that the FDA could not be trusted and called for an independent investigation.

He wondered why the repackaged rice did not have the updated Best Before date on the bags to guide school heads and canteen matrons in the various SHSs on the use of the rice, explaining that rice supplied to schools may be stored for long periods and the repackaged rice may have been consumed well after the updated Best Before date.

Source: Nsem360.com