A former Chief Executive Officer of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Alhaji Hudu Mogtari has emphasized that Lamens Investments Africa Company Limited breached at least three food safety regulations in what has become known as the ‘expired rice for SHS’ scandal.
According to him, the company engaged in major infractions in the following ways: re-bagging about 22,000 bags of rice without prior approval from the FDA, re-bagging at an unlicensed facility without FDA’s supervision, and altering the labelling on the bags which he describes as deceptive.
While acknowledging the FDA’s authority to extend the rice’s “Best-Before” date after verifying its safety, Alhaji Hudu Mogtari argued that the company’s subsequent actions raise serious legal and ethical concerns about its intent.
He highlighted the company’s non-compliance with the FDA’s guidelines for repackaging of food products. Specifically, Alhaji Mogtari cited general requirement 3.1.1 “No firm or individual shall undertake repackaging operation without the authorization and supervision of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA)”.
Guideline 3.1.4 also states that “All repackaged food products shall be adequately labelled and the labelling information shall comply with the FDA Guidelines for Labeling of Pre-packaged Food Products. The labelling information on all repackaged food products shall have the same substantive labelling declaration as the bulk product e.g. best-before Date, Batch Number, List of ingredients, Net Weight amongst others”.
Alhaji Hudu Mogtari further quoted guideline 3.1.6 to confirm the fact that, Lamens engaged in an act of illegality. The said legislation indicated that “The repackaging facility shall be licensed in accordance with the Guidelines for Licensing of Manufacturing Facilities”.
Alhaji Mogtari indicated that Lamens Investments’ failure to adhere to these guidelines constituted acts of illegality.
In a media interaction, the former FDA boss stated, “Regardless of the initial approval given by the FDA, the company failed to adhere to other food safety standards.”
He has called for a thorough investigation into the matter and urged authorities to impose stricter sanctions if necessary.
Meanwhile, the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has clarified that the GH¢100,000 fine imposed on Lamens Investments Africa Limited was for multiple regulatory violations, not the quality of the Moshosho Rice imported from India.
The FDA in a statement said investigations revealed that Lamens Investments re-bagged the rice without obtaining prior approval, a critical step required to ensure product integrity and compliance with safety standards.
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