Authority Blacklists Unlabeled Food Products

The Ethiopian Food & Drug Authority added 26 more processed food products to the banned items list for failing to fulfill labeling requirements.

Banned on September 27, 2019, the items are various brands of edible oil, vinegar, Vimto, iodised salt, honey and packed baby foods. The Authority stated that the products were found not having labels with details of production date, expiry date, nutritional content, place of production and name of the producing company.

Since last June the Authority has banned a total of 146 food items in four rounds for failing to have detailed labels, which is the mandatory standard by which the Authority traces producers.

Based on the findings of the latest fourth post-market analysis study conducted in the capital and its surroundings, 11 types of edible oil, a vinegar,  Vimto soft drinks, seven iodised salts, three types of honey products and three brands of packed food products were banned from the market.

Zebibe, Nur, Seket, Hamad, Anagena, Dagm, Tizta, Rosa, Nud, Meraf and Birhan are the new edible oil brands banned from the market, while Sara and Nusra, Abat, Emirate, Safe, Mustura, Kanna and Care are the iodized salt brands. All were found in the market without descriptive labels on the products.

Besides, eight more products, including Eshet Pumpkin, Dalima Jam, Adey Ababa Honey, Addis Filtered Honey, Nebo Filtered Honey, Mulu Children’s Food, Lara Vimto and Samit Vinegar, were banned from the market.