The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) says it has not approved any sexual or body enhancement products for sale in the country. It has therefore warned the public to desist from patronizing any of such in the form of beauty, body or sexual enhancement products.

Addressing a press conference in Kumasi, Mrs Nora Narkie Terlabie, the Ashanti Regional Head of FDA, said the Authority could not guarantee the health and safety of users of these unapproved products.

She mentioned some of the popular brands of the body enhancement products as “breast lifting fast cream”, “soft curve booty”, “hip cream”, “bobaraba cream”, “yodi capsule” and “penis enlargement capsule” Others are “lady killer”, “viamax”, “black-K king kong”, “virgin cream”, “charm sex” and “max man”., all meant to excite sexual pleasure .

Mrs Terlabie said preliminary investigations have revealed that these products were brought into the country from Nigeria and that the Authority was currently working with the law enforcement agencies to clamp down on the importation and sale of the unapproved products on the Ghanaian market. She said the labels of the products do not have any information as required by the Ghana Labelling Regulation, LI 1541.

They also have no manufacturers address or contact details, no country of origin and most importantly, no list of active ingredients. Mrs. Terlabie expressed worry about the possible devastating harm the chemicals in the products could cause to users on ingestion, since some were swallowed and others smeared on the skin.

The use of the products could cause pressure on critical internal organs such as the liver and kidneys as such organs had to work extra hard to eliminate the toxins in the products, from the body. They can also result in hormonal imbalances, increase risk of blood clotting, increase in blood lipid levels, heart problems, among other harm.

Mrs Larbie indicated that the Authority had over the years conducted a number of activities aimed at ridding the markets of the dangerous products, but it appeared there was “still a demand for them and as such some unscrupulous members of our society still manage and bring them into the country”.

She advised Ghanaians to always buy medicines from approved and identified outlets such as hospitals, pharmacies and licensed chemical shops.

She used the occasion to caution players in the industry - importers, manufacturers, supermarkets, retail proprietors and consumers to desist from offering for sale or patronizing unregistered products - products not labelled in English as well as those with no date markings.