The Sunyani office of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) responsible for the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regions has initiated a special market surveillance to clamp down on traders engaged in fake, unregistered and adulterated products.

A Principal Regulatory Officer at the office, Francisca Patoah Agyarko said under the initiative, personnel of the Authority undertook random visits to the various markets to also check the manufacturing and expiry dates of cosmetics, foods, and drugs.

“This is to help rid the market of fake, unregistered, expired and adulterated products to protect the public,” she told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Sunyani.

Mrs Agyarko said the exercise was necessitated due to the polarised nature of the Ghana-Cote D’Ivoire borders in the region, which was contributing to the smuggling of some unwholesome products into the country.

She urged consumers to remain vigilant and endeavour to check the expiry dates and logos of the FDA whenever they intended to buy products, particularly oil, rice, canned products, and medications.

The Principal Regulatory Officer also appealed to the public to provide information about traders suspected to be engaged in the smuggling of food items to the Authority, and said “We need the collective support of everybody to rid the market of contaminated products.”