ROYCO, MAGGI Have No Expiry Dates?�But Nestle-Gh Says It Isn't Mandatory By FDA

Recent observations by a team of monitors from the New Crusading GUIDE on some food spices have revealed that, spices as Royco Cubes, Maggi, amongst others, patronized on the market and used in daily food preparations have no manufacturing and expiry dates on the tablets. According to our monitors, the products only have manufacturing and expiry dates embossed on the box, but not on the maggi tablets sold in singles; a condition that makes it difficult for the buyer to know whether the product is expired or not. But the Brand�s Manager for Nestle Ghana Limited, manufacturers of Maggi Cubes and Choco Milo, Mr. J.P Duplan, when contacted said �it is not mandatory by any of the Food and Drug Authority�s regulations to provide expiry dates on the products�. He said the company was not bothered to put expiry and manufacturing dates on Maggi tabs, because the product in its tablet form did not have enough space to contain them. He further noted, that people buy Maggi on daily basis �Maggi is an easy going item in the market and does not keep long in the mum�s kitchen �There are so many products out there doing the same thing, and it is not against the regulation from the FDA�. According to him, he understood the consumer had the right to know whether the product patronized had expired or not, �therefore there is the need to put dates of expiration and manufacturing �it is a great concern which ought to be addressed in the near future�. More so, Mr. Kofi Essel, from the animal food Unit of the FDA in an interview said the manufacturer had a retail unit which the law allowed to put expiry dates on their products, and that such products were too small to contain inscriptions of both expiry and manufacturing dates. He rather blamed retailers for bad retail practices, adding that �once the product is sold outside the tray the buyer is denied the chance of knowing whether the product has expired or not �. He cautioned buyers to desist from buying such products in trays, as unscrupulous retailers might mix up expired products and sell. �Ghanaians must desist from buying in trays�.it is always advisable to buy in bulk, so you can know whether the product has expired or not�.if you think that is expensive then you might end up buying, an expired product from an unscrupulous retailer�. He further stated, the FDA was entirely against such retail practices, and it was one of their big challenges.