The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has issued another caution to unauthorised operators of body enhancement products on the markets.
In a press statement dated August 30, 2021, the FDA said manufacturers, advertisers, distributors and sellers of these unregistered products must desist from such acts as it is illegal.
The FDA said the products can have adverse health implications on consumers.
The FDA said in a statement that as part of its routine market surveillance and monitoring activities, it has noted with utmost concern how some companies are producing, selling and advertising body enhancements products with no authorisation from the authority and in contravention with the Public Health Act 2021 (Act 851)
The statement warned companies that abet such acts to cease the production, manufacture, selling and advertisements of such products with immediate effect.
The FDA said it will not hesitate to prosecute companies that are found to be flouting the law.
The Authority said it is committed to enforcing its mandate to protect the well-being of the consuming public while urging the public not to patronise such products as their quality and safety cannot be guaranteed.
This is not the first time the FDA is merely warning against the sale and adverts of unauthorised body enhancement products.
In 2017, the craze for body enhancement products, like beard growth creams, forced the FDA to issue a similar statement.
At the time, a medical officer at the MotherLove Hospital, Dr Emmanuel Lartey, advised the public against using such products.
He told the Mirror that the harmful effects far outweighed the immediate benefits.
Dr Lartey stated that many of the products contained harmful chemicals which affected some organs of the body.
“In most cases, I have had to deal with those who use these products and end up having serious health conditions such as kidney failure, headaches, insomnia and skin cancer. Those who insert vagina tightening products end up closing the hole totally.
“It is better to avoid such products than to waste huge sums of money in treating the side effects,†he advised.