Tomato Scare - GSB Raises Eyebrows Over Sugar, Starch In Puree

Some brands of tomato paste on the Ghanaian market which contain starch and sugar have raised eyebrows and safety concerns among some industry players and the Ghana Standards Board (GSB).

Branded as ‘Pure Tomato Paste’, the products have labels which indicate that they contain modified starch, tomato paste, sugar and some acidic component.

But there are no indications of the relative quantities of those ingredients, a situation which has raised concerns over the quality of the products and the possible health implications related to their consumption.

When confronted with an example of those products, Fiorini tomato paste, the GSB indicated that it did not meet set standards.

According to the Director of Quality Assurance of the GSB, Mr Eugene Adarkwah-Addae, addition of starch and sugar was not permitted under the GS 246/2004 Specification for processed tomato paste and tomato concentrate.

He explained under the specified standard for tomato paste and puree, the only additives permitted were salt, natural seasoning and an acid regulator, stressing that the addition of sugar and thickening agents such as starch was not permitted.

He said the paste or puree was to be produced from tomato concentrate from squeezed tomato juice, stressing that the concentration was supposed to be by physical means and not by the addition of substances such as sugar or starch.

Checks made by the Daily Graphic indicate that comparatively, these products, which are beginning to gain patronage among Ghanaians, are cheaper than those produced in Ghana, which contain only tomato paste and are of higher quality.

Industry players the Daily Graphic interviewed said although in the past, the labelling on such imports did not indicate so, there had always been a suspicion that some of the foreign imports contained other substances such as starch and sugar.

“Apparently, once the ingredients are indicated on the label, then it is expected that consumers are aware of what they are buying and that frees the producer of any liability,” one industry player told the Daily Graphic.

That view is supported by the Deputy Chief Executive, Food, of the Food and Drugs Board (FDB), Mr John Odame-Darkwah, who told the Daily Graphic that there should be no cause for alarm, since the products did not have any food safety problems.

“If the producers don’t declare the contents, then that is an issue . . . some people want it that way,” he told the Daily Graphic.

He said these are formulations being manufactured in different countries and sold worldwide, adding that the country operated a free market, and once there were no food safety issues, tomato paste producers were under no compulsion to produce products containing only tomato paste.

Mr Odame-Darkwah said it was also not mandatory for the producers to indicate the relative quantities of the ingredients on the labelling, and said for tomato paste below a minimum amount of tomato paste used, the product would not gel.

But one could easily sense a deceptive labelling strategy employed by some of these producers who display boldly on the product ‘pure tomato paste’, and then beneath and in reduced font, give the contents as containing modified starch, tomato paste, sugar and some acidic component.

Some consumers who spoke to the Daily Graphic expressed concern that such imports were making entry into the Ghanaian market and wondered why the producers would not indicate the amount of tomato paste, sugar and modified starch used in order to make the consumer well-informed to make a decision.

Author : Daniel Nkrumah

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