FDA Goes Tough On Alcoholic Beverages Perceived To Be Medicinal

The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) is threatening legal action against alcoholic beverage producers and media houses who present alcoholic products as medicinal.

The FDA says such claims amount to deception since no alcoholic product on the market has been proven to have such features.

The Authority says continued flouting of rules and regulations on the advertisement of alcoholic beverages by industry players cannot be allowed to go on.

Chief Regulating Officer, Kwasi Essel, says the authority has already served judicial notices to producers and the media on what he describes as falsehood.

He says though adverts are screened before approval is given to the media, unsubstantiated claims are added to promote them.

“So long as you are unable to prove yourself then whatever you are saying amounts to deception and you can be sued for that. You came in as a beverage, sell it as a beverage,” he told beverage producers.

Mr. Essel also cautions producers against using flavors under the guise of herbs to deceive consumers.

“If you are not using plant materials you cannot call it bitters; if it is flavours that you are using let us know it is a flavoured drink,” he added.

He spoke to Luv News on the sidelines of an interaction with stakeholders in the northern sector on best practices.

Meanwhile, Ashanti Regional Manager of FDA, Nora Narkie Terlabie, urges the public to shun expired and improperly labelled products.

“If you are a consumer don’t try something you are not overly conversant with, ensure that labels on products you buy are in English. There can be other languages but there should be English as well,” she said.