The Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs for the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Joseph Yaw-Bernie, has clarified why the best-before date on the rice allegedly repackaged by Lamens Investment Africa and distributed to Senior High Schools was extended.

Speaking on Joy FM's Middaynews on Thursday, November 21, Mr Yaw-Bernie explained that the date was revised from December 2023 to April 2024 after thorough quality assessments.

He added Initially, the FDA cracked down on Lamens Investment Africa for repackaging rice with an expired "best-before" date, recommending the product be disposed of.

However, following rigorous tests conducted by the FDA, the Centre for Scientific Research (CSIR), and an accredited laboratory in India, the rice was confirmed to meet quality standards. As a result, the "best before" date was extended to April 2024.

“The FDA found that the product could still be consumed safely based on confirmatory tests from three laboratories. While the producer initially requested an extension to December 2024, we approved it only until April 2024.

"We also required Lamens to provide further evidence from the manufacturer to justify any additional extensions,” Mr Yaw-Bernie stated.

"They [Lamens] applied for an extension of the best-before date and we took them through the processes and once they qualified to have the date extended, we did that,” he added.

He further stated that the rice remained safe for consumption during the extension period and noted that the company was fined GHS 100,000 for repackaging the rice without FDA approval.

Read Also: ‘Expired rice’: FDA fines Lamens Investments GH¢100k for regulatory violations