FDB DESTROYS FAKE WASHING POWDER (BACK PAGE, AUGUST 28, 2010)

THE Food and Drugs Board (FDB) has destroyed quantities of a fake washing powder called ‘So Klin’ valued at GH¢31,000.
The 1,553 cartons of the fake product imported into the country from China were seized from the Ashaiman, Swedru and Koforidua markets after two months of post-market surveillance swoops in the towns.
The products, believed to have been imported into the country with the help of some customs officials, according to the FDB, contains high acidity levels of about 12.2, that is superior to the 3-12 acidity range in the original product being distributed by Hush Enterprise, sole importers of the product in the country.
Briefing the Daily Graphic at the Kpone landfill site where the product was destroyed, the Head of Public Relations at the FDB, Mr James Lartey, indicated that chemicals used in the manufacture of the fake washing powder posed a risk to users and could cause the skin to peel off with vast irritation occurring.
He said various challenges at the country’s entry points, where some officials of stakeholder agencies colluded with people by employing unscrupulous means to outsmart the original owners of trademarks, was impeding the FDB’s operations.
While sending signals to the general public that the board would not falter in prosecuting persons flouting the FDB Law, PNDC L 3058 on the importation of and distribution of registered trademarks of its clients, Mr Lartey appealed to stakeholder agencies, such as the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service, Immigration and Port authorities to fully collaborate with the FDB in ensuring that food and other imports into the country were safe for the public.
The General Manager of Hush Enterprise, Mr Yaw Kyei, said his outfit, with the help of the police, had launched investigations and would bring to book persons suspected to be associated with the fake imports of the washing powder.
He appealed to wholesalers and retailers of the product and the public to always ensure that purchases of the product were made from accredited sale vans that were regularly manned in communities and market centres.