Nigeria“s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has ordered all soft drinks manufactures to phase out glass bottles and adopt plastic ones on or before 2 January 2008…
Nigeria“s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has ordered all soft drinks manufactures to phase out glass bottles and adopt plastic ones on or before 2 January 2008. The agency also said that all drinks, whether soft and alcoholic, will have to carry expiry dates and announced strict sanctions for those breaking the rules. Giving the directive on 3 December 2006 in Abuja at a one-day interactive session with beverage manufacturers to deal with the constant reports of foreign bodies in bottled drinks, the Director-General of NAFDAC, Professor Dora Akunyili said that the measures were to safeguard consumers and to ensure that quality products are sold. “NAFDAC mandates all soft drink manufactures to adopt the use of plastic bottles within one year. In other words, all glass bottles should be phased out before 2 January 2008”. “Enforcement on defaulters starts on 2 January 2008. You therefore have a whole year to comply. Expired raw materials should never be revalidated”. “Expiry date is a date scientifically affixed on a product after which it is no longer safe to use the product. It is a date beyond which the manufactures is no longer responsible for any ill-effect of the product”.