The Shoprite Supermarket at the Accra mall has been fined by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) for selling imported frozen chicken but labeling it as locally produced chicken and selling it to customers.
This comes after the FDA closed the meat section of the Shoprite Supermarket on Tuesday, June 15, 2021, following reports that they were selling thawed imported frozen chicken as fresh local chicken to their customers.
Inspectors at the FDA were spotted taping the whole area of the meat section with no frozen product spotted on the shelves.
According to the FDA, the practice by Shoprite apart from being a deception also had health implications.
Akua Amartey, Deputy Chief Executive of the FDA said “Apart from it being deception, it also has some health implications, because we all know that you don’t actually thaw a frozen product and then put it back into the freezer for it to freeze.”
She stated that “And most people who patronize these products think they’ve bought fresh chicken, some of them will definitely also freeze and you know what happens when products are thawed at certain temperatures, micro-organisms start brewing in them and they produce toxins.
“So someone will say but you boiled the chicken, yes you boiled it, the micro-organisms will die but the toxins they’ve already produced are still in the meat and that is where when you consume food prepared from such means, you have some form of health challenges.”
In an interview on Accra-based Citi FM, she said Shoprite deceived its customers by labeling imported chicken as local chicken.
Amartey added: “It came to our attention that they actually label frozen chicken that they thaw as fresh chicken, and that is against the Public Health Act” and as a form punishment, Shoprite was “given an administrative fine to pay that is going to make it punitive for them not to repeat such an action.”
Indications that the FDA will similar actions at all other branches of Shoprite in the country, Amartey said “We have locked the Shoprite at the Accra Mall. We are visiting other facilities. We have been to the Junction Mall, where we have locked up their freezers.”
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