Accra, Nov. 03, GNA - Parry and Company Limited, a West African Marketing and Distribution company, on Wednesday cleared the air that the alleged expired “Grace Corned Beef”, which the Food and Drugs Board alerted, was not its product.

Briefing the media in Accra, Ms Dorothy A. Twimasie, General Manager of the Company, said Parry and Company was the sole franchise of Grace Corned Beef manufactured in Brazil for Grace Foods UK Limited.

She noted that Parry and Company did not have any idea of the said Grace corned beef reported by the FDB to have been stored in a warehouse in Togo.

Mrs Twimasie said the stocks of Grace Corned Beef by the Company were fresh with an expiry date of March 2016.

She said the company's product was safe and had been registered with the FDB with the number FDB/Mt 10-001.

The FDB on Friday, October 28 issued a press release alerting the general public of information received of a large consignment of expired corned beef with the brand names “Grace Corned Beef and Libby’s Corned Beef found in a warehouse in Togo.

The products have expired since 2008 and showed signs of bloating, rust and leakage of th cans.

FDB, as a result, alerted Ghanaians on the possibility of the expired products entering the markets and advised that such products when spotted should be reported to the Board.

Parry and Company was also the sole agent for premium brands like starkest tuna, Teacher mackerel, royal umbrella and sunset rice.

Ms Twimasie expressed Parry and Company’s willingness to cooperate with the FDB to ensure that the expired Grace corned beef did not enter the Ghanaian market.

Later in an interview with the Deputy Chief Executive of FDB in charge of Food, Mr John Odame Darkwah said FDB as regulators, always placed the safety of consumers first on the chart.

He said a team had been discharged to Togo to get samples of the said expired food products.

He said Board would undertake a thorough physical examination of all products at the borders to prevent repackaging of the expired products to deceive the public.

He called on consumers to be on the lookout and peel-off the paper of any corned beef just to ascertain the authenticity of the product bought.