Beware of Fake and Dangerous Imported Chinese Products on the Market in Ghana.

With the rapid economic growth of China in the last one and half decades, there is a made in China product in almost every household in the World. This high demand for “Made in China” products is bolstered by the fact that they are reasonably priced compared with similar products made in the developed countries .

However, recently Chinese made products are making the headlines for all the wrong reasons. The high demand for made in China products has caused the Chinese to compromise on quality and safety. This has raised alarms all over the World. It has been discovered that many Chinese exports particularly food products to many parts of the World has been tainted with chemicals not approved for human consumption.. In the case of the well publicized pet food imports from China to the US, thousands of pets died as a result of eating these contaminated products. This happened not only in the US but also in Canada and South Africa.

Counterfeit Chinese made medicine is killing people all over the World. Chinese cold medicine supposedly made with glycerine did not contain any glycerine but instead the toxic substance diethyleneglycol . This medicine which was imported by the Panamaian Health Authorities killed hundreds of people earlier this year in Panama In Japan, last year, a Chinese made dietary supplement sickened about a thousand people and killed about five people. Imported Chinese toys are found to have high levels of toxicity containing diethyleneglycol. This is particularly dangerous given that these are toys for children and children are apt to put anything into their mouth. This requires that products made for children should be very safe and producers and regulators must both adhere to very high safe ty standards.

Among the list of tainted Chinese imports recently released by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration of the USA) include: dried apples preserved with cancer causing chemicals, frozen catfish laden with banned antibiotics, scallops and sardines coated with putrefying bacteria, juices and fruits rejected as filthy and tainted with chemicals not approved for human consumption. Others include frozen fish and shrimps preserved with nitrofuran, anti-bacteria substance that can cause cancer, mushrooms laced with illegal pesticides, toxic Chinese cosmetics, counterfeit and dangerous Chinese medicines and tainted Chinese dietary supplements.

For us in Ghana, how can we protect our citizens from these tainted, fake, and outright dangerous products? This poses a serious challenge to the public health delivery system and the safety of our people. Since the Ghana Standards Board is dead and buried, and completely non functional, and since we do not have the equivalent of the Food and Drug Administration or if we do, it is so corrupt and largely inefficient, our citizens are left at their own mercy and at the mercy of God.

When I wrote on a similar subject a couple of months ago and made a comment that “ we live in a lawless country, so anybody at all can just wake up and bring in anything at all in commercial quantities and start offering them for sale without going through any standard test to establish safety”. Somebody in a comment drew my attention to the vast collaboration network and kickbacks that exists between and among those who are supposed to regulate and sanitize the rot. The regulators and the importers collaborate to bring in fake and counterfeit medicine, sub standard goods, and out right dangerous products to sell to their fellow citizens and damn the consequences. What sort of nation are we building if we don't care about the health of our people and will sacrifice the lives of our children for money ? The searchlight is now on Chinese made products but there are a lot of locally made products that don't meet safety standards, a lot fake medicine and other products coming from Nigeria and some from other parts of the World. These tainted food products, fake medicines, dangerous cosmetics, and other counterfeit products plus the kickbacks scandal have raised serious concerns about safeguards for food, medicine, and other products being shipped to Ghana and the rest of the World from China. Wake up, the Ministry of Health, it is the nation's health that is at stake. I am particularly concern about the health of our children.

Ben Ofosu-Appiah.
The author is a social and political analyst and Policy Strategy Advisor based in Tokyo, Japan. He welcomes your comments.