Consumers have been advised against purchasing and consuming dented canned products as their contents could be contaminated.

Mr Eric Ofoe Ambasaki, Inspector at the Ghana Standard Authority (GSA), Inspectorate Division, Tema, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, explain that dented canned products may have its inner wall peeling into the food item and contaminating it.

Mr Ambasaki added that when the mixture of air mixes with the moisture from the food within the can, it stimulates growth of bacteria leading contamination.

He further asked consumers to physically examine products for leakages, dirt, expiring date, production date, and ingredients before buying.

He added that looking out for those things help the consumer to examine the quality of the product and whether it met the standards.

The GSA Inspector reminded consumers not to buy food items due to their “affordability” but rather consider the health effects it would have on them after consumption.

Explaining the required standard for products in Ghana, he noted that every item must have the name, the brand name, name of importer for imported goods, name of manufacturer and address.

Other requirement, he said, was the batch number, which helped in traceability and recall of the product in case of any problem.

Mr Ambasaki, throwing light on factors considered by the GSA in allowing the clearance of certain goods, he stated that clearing of products with “Best Before” dates with the exception of dairy products could be allowed even when the stated date is six months away.

He explained that “Best Before” products, with the exception of dairy products could be consumed some few months after adding that products with expiring dates could not be consumed after its expiration.

He added that they also considered the quantity of the products, storage, and transportation to ascertain whether all the items could be consumed before the expiring or “best before” dates.