Takoradi, Dec. 30, GNA - The Food and Drugs Board would as from January next year conduct inspection of shops in all districts in the Western and Central Regions to rid them of unregistered and improperly labelled foods, beverages and drugs.

Mr George E. Pentsil, Zonal Officer in-charge of the Western and Central Regions, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview on Thursday.

He said the focus of the FDB would be to intensify its operations in the districts because consumers there needed to be encouraged to demand good practices from traders like replacing expired goods and ensuring proper labelling of goods.

Mr Pentsil said goods labelled in other foreign languages without English translation must not be patronised by consumers. He said consumers must continually insist on their rights and demand replacements for expired, bloated, rusty or unlabelled goods. Mr Penstil said a series of training workshops would be organised for consumers, personnel of law enforcement agencies and shop owners to create the necessary awareness and to prevent the sale of unwholesome goods to consumers.

He said to check the importation of smuggled goods; a permanent office of FDB would be established at the Elubo border.

Mr Pentsil stressed that the FDB had not stopped the exercise to "search, retrieve and destroy" expired goods it started some time ago. He, therefore, appealed to consumers to check the expiry dates on all goods they purchased to avoid consuming unwholesome products. Mr Penstil reminded producers and importers of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices and chemical substances particularly within the Western and Central Regions, that it was mandatory to register and secure a permit from the FDB before they were sold to the public. He said the Board recently destroyed large quantities of products which were either expired, bloated or had no labels.