The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has reportedly slammed a fine of N1 billion administrative charges on Guinness Nigeria Plc for its failure to adhere to the recommended ‘good manufacturing practice procedures.’
The Enforcement Department of the agency had allegedly conducted a routine check on the company’s factory in Ikeja, Lagos on November 5, 2015 where the revelations were made.
According to the source, the NAFDAC team came back with unsatisfactory appraisals about how some of the materials used in the production processes were being handled.
Further findings revealed that the team that visited Guinness was worried about the manner the raw materials used in the factory were stored.
“The unhygienic storage condition of the raw materials was a major source of worry for the agency,” the NAFDAC source said.
They reportedly found that the raw materials used in their factories were exposed to rodents, and some of the expired products were discovered to have been revalidated.
The source said following the startling discoveries and a report made by the team to the enforcement team, a letter to the effect was actually conveyed to the firm.
“Our team visited Guinness and the reported findings were true. The agency is, however, going to make a public statement to this effect at the appropriate time, as the management is still studying the reports submitted by the team,” the source said.
However, reacting, Mr. Peter Ndegwa, Managing Director of Guinness while confirming that his company did receive a notice from NAFDAC, said: “As a responsible corporate organization, we take these allegations which relate primarily to raw materials stored in one of our raw materials stores very seriously.”
He clarified that the said raw materials store is not a production facility and that “we engaging NAFDAC for clarifications and resolution of the issues.”
Continuing, Ndegwa said: “The meticulous and painstaking work including rigorous quality assurance, that precedes the final production of all our products, has a singular objective: to ensure that our consumers drink products that are healthy and comparable with similar products made by a Diageo facility anywhere else in the world.”
According to Ndegwa, there is an extensive and elaborate process by which basic raw materials are first converted during the brewing stage, with lots of critical control points, before products are bottled and released to the market.
“Each of these painstaking steps is rigorously monitored for conformity with all necessary global standards which we regard as basic, as we always aspire to exceed the much higher standards that have been set internally by the Diageo Group.
” The high quality of products from Guinness Nigeria’s breweries has been attested to repeatedly not only by NAFDAC but also by the Standards Organization of Nigeria, as well as the internal quality controls of the Diageo Group,” he said.
Ndegwa reaffirmed that Guinness Nigeria remains very positive on account of its ongoing engagement with NAFDAC, asuring that the issues will be clarified and resolved in a short while.
On Guinness Nigeria’s production facilities in Ogba, Benin City and Aba, Ndegwa stated that each of the breweries continues to work to exceed critical standards in areas such as quality and very importantly, human safety and environmental preservation.
“On an incremental basis we continue to automate our processes,” said Ndegwa.
“Indeed, with an investment in excess of N52billion in improving our manufacturing processes, our brewing plantswould rank favourably among the most automated and modern brewing plants around the world.” The company’s major aim is the continuous enhancement of the quality of products Guinness Nigeria makes available to its consumers, he added.
