The items included expired, unregistered and banned products, including alcohol-stimulant-mixed and non-alcoholic beverages, and household cosmetics containing hydroquinone, valued at thousands of Ghana Cedis.

The FDA conducted the disposal under the supervision of the Upper West Regional Environmental Health and Sanitation Department.

Mr Kelvin Dafaari Sunkpal, the Upper West Regional Head of the FDA, told the media in Wa, after the safe disposal exercise, that the items had been seized during market surveillance across the region since January 2025.

He explained that the expired products posed health risks to consumers since the manufacturers could not guarantee their safety beyond their expiry dates.

Also, said the mixed alcoholic beverages and hydroquinone-induced cosmetics had been banned in Ghana by the FDA because the mixtures posed a health risk to consumers.

Mr Sukapi said: “These are drinks (alcohol-stimulant-mixed beverages) that have been banned since last year. We gave the manufacturers up to March of this year (2026) to recall their products from the market.

“However, during our market surveillance after March, we came across several quantities of the products.”

The Regional Head of the FDA indicated that they had also imposed administrative sanctions, including fines on the offenders.

He explained that the authority had moved beyond sensitisation and education on the sale of unwholesome products to imposing sanctions on the perpetrators.

“We have gone beyond the sensitisation level. We sensitise them to stop selling, but we still see some of them selling, so they have paid administrative fines to the Authority”, Mr Sunkpal indicated.

He, however, said the FDA would continue to strengthen public education campaigns and intensify market surveillance activities to ensure compliance and consumer safety.

He urged consumers to exercise caution when purchasing household consumables such as food, drink and cosmetic products and to check for their wholesomeness before consumption.

Mr Sunkpal reiterated that the FDA does not permit the manufacture or sale of alcoholic drinks mixed with stimulants such as caffeine.

He said: “If you want to produce, you only do alcohol, or you do only a caffeinated or stimulant drink.

“We should all be one another’s keeper. Let’s look for wholesome products to buy. We should not use our hard-earned money to go and buy sickness for ourselves.”

He assured the public that the FDA remained committed to protecting public health through effective regulation and enforcement measures across the region.