The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has sealed three factories in Ogun State for producing banned sachet and PET bottles of alcoholic drinks below 200ml.
Mr Kunle Ojo, an Assistant Director in NAFDAC’s Investigation and Enforcement Directorate, told newsmen on Monday that the enforcement followed the continued production of alcoholic products in packaging prohibited under existing regulatory directives.
The enforcement was carried out in the Sango-Ota and Idi-Iroko areas.
Ojo said the sealed factories were Intercontinental Distilleries Ltd., Shashi Distillery Ltd., and an undisclosed factory owned by Nigeria Distillery Ltd.
He added that the undisclosed factory was discovered during the agency’s ongoing second phase of the nationwide enforcement of the Federal Government’s ban on the products.
The agency began enforcing the ban on sachet and 200ml PET bottle alcoholic drinks in January.
Ojo said officials earlier visited Nigeria Distillery Ltd. at Kilometre 14, Idi-Iroko Road, but found nothing. They later received an intelligence report about the company’s undisclosed factory on 24 July.
He said prohibited packaging materials for banned PET alcohol beverages below 200ml and sachet nylon were discovered, describing the find as mind-boggling.
“We discovered uncountable 100ml alcoholic bottles, packaging materials for sachets, and already-producing sachet alcohol still on the 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 the agency had previously visited Intercontinental Distilleries and Shashi in January to stop the use of 22 machines producing sachet alcoholic drinks and to evacuate packaging materials for alcohol beverages below 200ml.
Ojo noted that during its visit on 24 July, the agency discovered old packaging materials for alcohol beverages below 200ml at the factories, prompting NAFDAC to seal them.
“When we came in last week, we discovered old packaging materials, and those machines we had 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.
Ojo said NAFDAC would continue to intensify efforts to sanitise the country of banned products to safeguard public health.
He urged Nigerians to report any suspicious production of such banned alcohol to the nearest NAFDAC office.
