The food and Drugs Authority FDA wants alcoholic Beverage producers to desist from supporting entertainment programmes without its express permission.
According to a Principal officer at FDA, Mr Kofi Essel who spoke to MzGee on 3FM’s Showbuzz, alcoholic beverage companies who intend sponsoring entertainment events will have to write to the FDA for vetting and approval.
He explained that since these programmes are attended by young people who may not be qualified to consume the product a blanket permission will be injurious to youth who are expected to be protected by the FDA.
Mr. Essel has also been revealing the driving force behind their recent quest to crack down on celebrity endorsement of alcoholic beverages.
He said their hands were forced by the media to ban celebrities and well known figures from advertising alcoholic beverages.
This to him was triggered by a massive uproar in the media following an infamous Adonko bitters incident.
” There was an incident in Kumasi which was sponsored by Adonko where a lot of people went there and got drunk and some had to sleep on the ground while others could not even go home.” Mr Essel explained
He added that : “There was a public outcry and it was this same media that took FDA on and said we were not doing our job. This was an event that was sponsored by an alcoholic beverage.”
The ban on celebrities endorsement of these quaffing products has been criticized by dancehall artiste Shatta wale and others as harsh and a poor economic decision demanding its reversal.
