Koforidua, May 17, GNA - The Volta and Eastern Zonal Officer of the Food and Drugs Board (FDB), Mrs Narkie Terlabie, has reiterated the commitment of the FDB to hold accountable producers of sachet water and fruit juice to ensure that their operations do not compromise public health standards.

Speaking at a two-day workshop on safety and consumer standards for producers of sachet water and fruit juice in the Eastern Region at Koforidua on Wednesday, Mrs Terlabie stressed that the closure of some erring businesses by the FDB did not mean that it wanted to harass operators in the field.

Rather, such regulations, she explained, had become paramount in view of the emergence of the sachet water industry as very important on which many people now relied.

The regulations, she explained were introduced due to the observation that "a greater percentage of illnesses reported at hospitals are water borne," thus necessitating the need to "regulate the industry to safeguard the safety of all consumers."

According to Mrs Terlabie, inspections conducted by the board on some operators revealed that, though many of the operators had acquired some equipment, they nevertheless, exhibited little competence and showed disregard for hygienic practices.

She said the workshop was being held against the revelations that "good manufacturing and hygienic practices remain the main problems affecting the quality of sachet water and fruit juices in the country".

Dr Mohammed Bin Alpha, a veterinary surgeon with the FDB, said many sachet water producers did not have ultra-violent sterilizers, which were used in killing water borne-germs or reducing their level to the extent that would not pose health risks to consumers. Dr Alpha enumerated other problems such as the failure of these producers to register with the FDB, the lack of well-defined areas of storage of finished products and the failure to use food grade detergents and disinfectants.

He charged the over 60 participants not to allow the lure of money to becloud their judgement when dealing with the public.