The Upper East Regional Office of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), has cautioned sachet water producers against production under unhygienic and poor sanitary conditions which is threat to public safety.
Mr Abel Ndego, Acting Regional Head of the FDA, who gave the caution, said the Authority had several regulatory and administrative actions ranging from warning letters to closure of facilities, administrative fines and charges, and prosecution.
“Ultimately, the onus lies on FDA to ensure public health and safety, and we will not let you make money at the expense of people’s lives,” he told sachet water producers drawn from across the Region at a sensitisation programme organized by the FDA in Bolgatanga.
The Authority shared ideas on best practices on what was recommended per the provisions of guidelines and international standards to help equip sachet water producers to produce under higher standard and quality.
Mr Ndego said the FDA in its routine inspection of sachet water production facilities across the Region, observed that sanitation was one of the biggest challenges.
“The cleaning regimes are not as effective as they are supposed to be. Sanitation is critical in ensuring that you preclude or minimize the risk of contamination.
“If people are able to effectively ensure that they produce under sanitary conditions, then it just goes on to help protect and preserve the integrity and quality of the products that they churn out to the public,” he said.
He indicated that Ultraviolet (UV) sterilisation light, a critical control area in sachet water production ensured quality and safety of water and expressed concern that some facilities had non-functional UV lights.
He said the Authority halted production by facilities without the lights until they replaced them before production was permitted, “It is the UV light that is able to kill any pathogenic or harmful germs or bacteria that enter into the water.
“The filtration process only takes care of the particulate matter, but it is the sterilisation by the Ultraviolet radiations that kills the microbes and ensures that we consume water and don’t fall sick,” Mr Ndego explained.
He said water is life, and that anyone engaged in the business of water production, literally held the lives of people in their hands, “And so if anything goes wrong, it means that we are literally going to have serious ramifications on our hands.”
The Acting Regional Head told the producers that “Once we have ample reason to believe that you are not producing under the regiment of regulation, then FDA definitely will step in and take the required regulatory actions.”
He disclosed that the Authority had so far fined not less than six sachet water facilities and closed down two for non-compliance from the beginning of 2025, saying “We are anticipating that, moving forward, more of these actions would be taken”.
He said it was imperative for the FDA to ensure that whatever products were produced and consumed within and outside the borders of the Region, met the required standard for safety, quality, and efficacy.
Mr Ndego said 2025 was an action year for the FDA, and that the Authority would furnish the water producers with all the regulatory requirements to ensure they produced safe water for consumption.
GNA
