The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) in the Ashanti region, has shut down a second factory belonging to Unni Associates Company Limited, manufacturers of Arcan Bitters, after the company allegedly resumed production despite an earlier closure order.
The latest shutdown at Senfi in the Bekwai Municipality follows the closure of the company’s factory at Parkoso in the Asokore Mampong Municipality in September, after laboratory tests detected an undeclared prescription drug in the alcoholic beverage.
FDA officials said the company had relocated its operations and continued manufacturing Arcan Bitters without the Authority’s knowledge, prompting another enforcement action.
The Authority had earlier ordered the recall of the product from the Ghanaian market after laboratory analysis established the presence of Sildenafil Citrate, a prescription medicine used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension.
The Ashanti Regional Head of the FDA, Dr. Ashraf Haruna, said the discovery of the substance in a beverage registered as an alcoholic food product posed serious health and safety concerns.
He said Arcan Bitters, which contains 35 per cent alcohol, was not permitted to contain any medicinal substances.
Sildenafil Citrate is a Phosphodiesterase Type 5 inhibitor, and its undeclared presence in an alcoholic drink could expose consumers to potentially harmful effects.
During the latest operation, FDA officers locked up the Senfi facility and pasted caution notices at its entrances.
The Authority also secured 23 barrels of alcoholic content intended for production, about 1,500 boxes of the beverage, more than 5,000 empty bottles and other manufacturing materials.
Dr. Haruna said the FDA was liaising with the police to facilitate the arrest of the factory owner.
The Authority has urged the public to refrain from purchasing or consuming Arcan Bitters and called on retailers and distributors to cooperate with efforts to remove the product from circulation.