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Beware! Expired drinks in circulation in Sierra Leone

  • Expired drinks in the Sierra Leonean market

By Mohamed T. Massaquoi 

At least two brands of beverages are currently in circulation in the market despite having expired for over two months, Politico has learnt following weeks of an investigation.

“Sting”, an energy drink and “5,0 Original” which is an alcoholic drink are being sold in the open to a largely unsuspecting public.

But it may well be that consumers are also drawn to the products by their cost.

Sting, which expired on July 24, according to the inscription on its container, now costs Le3, 000 – down from Le5,000 before its expiry.

5,O Original, with a 5.4 percent alcoholic content, expired on July 12 and currently costs Le5, 000 – down from Le 15, 000.

Both of them are sold in the open by hawkers as well as established businesses across the country.

The Sierra Leone Standards Bureau, which regulates the quality of imported food and drink products in the country, was unaware of the expiry of the two products when contacted by Politico for comment. The Bureau is supposed to conduct tests on all food products and determine whether they should be imported through its product certification scheme.

A spokesman told Politico that Sting is imported by multiple agents and that it would be impossible to hold anyone responsible.

“I will tell you that the importation of this particular energy drink is not in the hands of a sole importer. We have several people in the market bringing in this product,” said Abubakarr Sallieu Bah, Public Relations Officer of the Bureau.

He added that the Bureau had no database of importers to help it identify who are bringing in the products.

The Standards Bureau was established in 1996 by an Act of parliament which mandates it to, among other things, coordinate Standardization and Quality Management activities.

But the management of the Bureau say neglect by successive governments had rendered it ineffective. Budgetary constraints mean that it lacks logistics and funds to establish itself beyond these points or conduct regular inspections.

Besides its head office in Freetown, the Bureau has a minor presence at the Queen Elizabeth II Quay, where it conducts tests on food products that come through the Sea Port. There is another small unit at the Sierra Leone border entry point with Guinea at Gbalamuya in Kambia.

Bah said because of their inability to cover the entire country, dubious businesspeople were constantly trying to beat the system, especially those whose products do not meet the Bureau’s standards for certification of importation.

According to the SLSB spokesman, the answer to proliferation of expired foodstuff is in the establishment of a Food Safety Authority, a call he said the Bureau had made over the last two years without success.

“Looking at the porosity of our borders, if we are to do our work to perfection, we are supposed to be visible in the border entry points of the country as well as the regional headquarters towns,” he said.

“Until when this (Food Safety Authority) is established in the country, the challenge of expired food products will continue,” he added, stressing that there was no way they could
adequately educate the public on issues relating to their mandate if the
government was not providing them the required financial support.

Bah also cautioned Sierra Leoneans in the habit of buying cheap products, saying that their attitude had served as encouragement for traders to sell expired products.

The Bureau falls under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, where officials were not available for comment.

© 2019 Politico Online

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