Acting on a weekend operation with National Security in Accra's Central Business District, the Food and Drugs Authority seized stocks of an unregistered "Cigarette Rod Lollipop" confectionery and arrested one suspect now assisting police with investigations into the product's importation, distribution and sale.
The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) said the seized sweets, moulded and packaged to resemble cigarettes, had never been registered with the Authority, meaning its ingredients remain unverified. In a statement issued Monday and signed by its Chief Executive Officer, the FDA renewed its warning against cigarette-shaped confectionery generally, saying such products risk normalising smoking behaviour among children and could undercut the country's broader anti-smoking efforts.
The Authority said manufacturing, importing, exporting, distributing, selling or exposing for sale any unregistered food product was an offence under Section 97(1) of the Public Health Act, 2012 (Act 851), and that the lollipop fell squarely within the Act's definition of food, triggering the same registration requirements.
The FDA advised the public against buying or eating the product and urged anyone who spots it being sold, or any other suspected unregistered food item, to report it through the Authority's hotlines — 055 111 2224 or 055 111 2225 — or by email. Retailers and individuals already holding stock were told to reach out to the FDA or surrender the items at the nearest office.
The Authority went further, appealing directly to importers and others in the supply chain to come forward voluntarily, promising that any information provided would be treated with strict confidentiality and that credible tips leading to an arrest would be rewarded.
