The Leadership of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) says it is cautioning the public against coagulated milk products from Nestle Ghana Limited.
According to the FDA, this follows the receipt of consumer complaints and is in line with best regulatory practices.
In a release signed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Delese Mimi Darko, said "The FDA immediately requested Nestle to respond to the complaints and initiate a recall of affected batches. To date, the FDA has undertaken a comprehensive regulatory action to ensure that any safety concerns to consumers were immediately detected and dealt with"
She also said "This process included, but not limited, to the following: (i) a complete Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) Inspection of Nestle's manufacturing facility in Tema to establish the root cause of the coagulation of the evaporated milk; (ii) review of analytical reports, documentation of raw and packaging materials, and (iii) product analyses"
A Microbial analysis was conducted on samples taken from the manufacturing facility and complaint samples at the FDA Laboratory.
Meanwhile, results from the analysis indicated that there was no microbial contamination of samples and therefore there is no foÖd safety issue with the said coagulated milk products from Nestle.
The analysis also confirmed that there was no leaching of dangerous chemicals from the inner (lacquer) lining into the milk product. So far, the root cause analysis indicates that the skimmed milk powder (raw material) used to produce the milk complained of has poor heat stability. This results in the denaturing of the protein leading to the coagulation of the milk"
Thinkinewsonline.com has also gathered denatured protein however poses no health risk.
"Based on the above, the underlisted batches of evaporated milk which were manufactured with the affected raw material are being recalled: Ideal Milk: 12651489, 12951489, 12961489, 13001489, 13031489, 13131489, 13161489, 13171489, 13341489, 13351489. Carnation Milk: 12901480, 12911489, 12931489, 12941489, 12951489, 12591489, 12601489, 12611489, 12651489, 13061489, 13071489, 13081489, 13091489, 13101489"
The communique stressed that as of January 9, 2022, a total of 57,938 cans of the products have been retrieved by Nestle nationwide.
The process is being monitored by the FDA.
"Anybody in possession of Ideal and Carnation milk with the batch numbers listed above should return them to Nestle or any FDA offices nationwide. The FDA assures the public that its Industrial Support Department continues to work with Nestle to ensure that the quality defect would not recur. The FDA wishes to commend consumers for their alertness and to encourage them to continue reporting issues observed with any of its regulated products for the appropriate regulatory measures to be taken to ensure the health and safety of the public. "
Below is a copy of the release:
Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith