The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has sealed three factories in Ogun for producing banned sachet and PET bottles of alcoholic drinks below 200ml.
Kunle Ojo, a NAFDAC official, told journalists on Monday that the enforcement followed continued production of alcoholic products in packaging prohibited under existing regulatory directives.
The enforcement was carried out in Sango-Ota and Idi-Iroko axis.
Mr Ojo said that the factories sealed were Intercontinental Distilleries Ltd., Shashi Distillery and an undisclosed factory owned by Nigeria Distillery.
He said that the undisclosed factory was discovered as a result of the agency’s ongoing second phase of nationwide enforcement of the federal government’s ban on the products.
NAFDAC began enforcement of the ban on sachet and 200ml PET bottle alcoholic drinks in January.
Mr Ojo said that officials earlier visited Nigeria Distillery at Kilometre 14, Idi-Iroko Road, but found nothing; thereafter, they received an intelligence report on the company’s undisclosed factory on July 24. He said that prohibited packing materials of banned pet alcohol beverages below 200ml and sachet nylon were discovered, describing it as mind-boggling.
“We discovered uncountable 100ml alcoholic bottles, packaging materials for sachets, and already producing sachet alcohol still on production machines at the facility. We also noticed today that after sealing the factory, some of the items we found on Friday are missing; this is a serious violation, and it will be dealt with administratively,” Ojo said.
He said that the agency had previously visited Intercontinental Distilleries and Shashi in January to stop the use of 22 machines producing sachet alcoholic drinks and evacuated packaging materials for alcohol beverages below 200ml.
Mr Ojo noted that during its visit on July 24, the agency discovered old packaging materials for alcohol beverages below 200ml at the factories, prompting NAFDAC to seal the factory.
“When we came in last week, we discovered old packaging materials and those machines we placed on hold were producing the banned products again. This is exactly why we decided to close down the entire factory because what NAFDAC said they should not produce, they are secretly producing,” he said.
Mr Ojo said that NAFDAC would continue to intensify efforts to sanitise the country of banned products to safeguard public health. He urged Nigerians to report any suspicious activity in the production of such banned alcohol to the nearest NAFDAC office.
