The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) says its investigation has revealed that 50 cartons of Pavo Frankfurt sausages with expiry date November 2022 were imported into the country.
It said 30 out to the 50 cartons of the substandard sausage containing listeria bacteria were sent to Ho, 15 to Accra, with five cartoons consumed by the importers.
Mr Vigil Edward Prah-Ashun, Head of Intelligence at the FDA told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that officers of the Authority were able to intercepts only four cartons of the sausages sent to Ho.
“We found out the 26 out of the 30 cartoons sent to Ho were already sold out and consumed, we have been able to trace most people who consumed the product to check for any adverse effect,” he said.
Mr Prah-Ashun said so far no adverse effect had been reported among those who consumed the product, and that the FDA was working to trace the remaining 15 cartoons in Accra.
“We have alerted all regional officers to be on the lookout for the product,” he said.
The head of intelligence said the FDA found and detained some cartons of Pavo Frankfurt sausage in Ho on October 11 following the recall of the AIA Wudy and Pavo sausage brands in Europe and other countries.
So far, no AIA Wudy sausage had been found on the Ghanaian Market, he said.
Commenting on the fast-approaching Christmas festivities and the sale of expired products, Mr Prah-Ashun said the FDA had intensified its post market surveillance activities to rid the market of unsafe products.
He said the officers were already in the markets to look out for unregistered products, substandard products and those that had short shelve life.
Mr Prah-Eshun said the FDA would ensure that the law dealt with persons, who would take advantage of the Christmas festivities to sell expired confectionaries and frozen foods to the public.
He urged the public to check the expiry dates on all consumables, especially ‘Donkomi’ products.
