The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has sealed three factories in Ogun State for producing banned sachet and sub-200ml PET bottled alcoholic drinks.
Mr Kunle Ojo, an Assistant Director in NAFDAC’s Investigation and Enforcement Directorate, disclosed this to journalists on Monday, noting that the enforcement followed continued production of alcoholic products in packaging prohibited under existing regulatory directives.
The operation was carried out in the Sango-Ota and Idi-Iroko axis.
Ojo identified the affected factories as Intercontinental Distillers Ltd., Shashi Distillery Ltd., and an undisclosed facility owned by Nigeria Distillery Ltd.
He explained that the undisclosed factory was uncovered during the agency’s ongoing second phase of nationwide enforcement of the Federal Government’s ban on such products.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that NAFDAC commenced enforcement of the ban on sachet and 200ml PET bottled alcoholic drinks in January.
Ojo said officials had earlier visited Nigeria Distillery Ltd. at Kilometre 14, Idi-Iroko Road, but found no infractions, before later receiving intelligence on July 24 about the company’s hidden factory.
He described the discovery at the site as alarming, noting that prohibited packaging materials were found.
“We discovered uncountable 100ml alcoholic bottles, packaging materials for sachets and already producing sachet alcohol still on production machines at the facility.
“We also noticed today that after sealing the factory some of the items we found on Friday are missing, this is a serious violation and it will be dealt with administratively,” Ojo said.
He added that the agency had previously visited Intercontinental Distillers Ltd and Shashi Distillery in January, where it stopped the use of 22 machines producing sachet alcoholic drinks and evacuated packaging materials for alcohol beverages below 200ml.
Ojo said that during a follow-up visit on July 24, NAFDAC discovered old packaging materials for sub-200ml alcoholic drinks, prompting the decision to seal the factories.
“When we came in last week, we discovered old packaging materials and those machines we placed on hold were producing the banned products again.
“This is exactly why we decided to close down the entire factory because what NAFDAC said they should not produce, they are secretly producing,” he said.
He assured that the agency would intensify efforts to rid the country of banned products in order to safeguard public health.
Ojo also urged Nigerians to report any suspicious production of such banned alcoholic drinks to the nearest NAFDAC office.