Accra: A senior official of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Dr. Martin Kusi, has raised red flags over the popular sobolo drink associated with Believers Worship Centre founder Prophet Stephen Adom Kyei-Duah. He has warned that marketing any 'medicinal beverage' without regulatory approval is a criminal offence.
According to Ghana Web, Dr. Kusi addressed Prophet Adom Kyei-Duah's sobolo specifically, stating that the product has not been registered as a medicine with the FDA and asserted that there would be no scientific basis for such approval to be granted. "There is no basis for such a sobolo to be approved as a medicinal product. The FDA won't approve such a product," he said.
He made the remarks in an interview on Okay FM, stating that there's a difference between a product sold as an ordinary beverage and one promoted as having healing properties. "If anyone produces a food or drink and presents it as a drug or as having medicinal properties, he or she has to come to us at the FDA for approval. Otherwise, that is an illegality, and we would have to take action," he said.
The FDA official explained that any product promoted for medicinal purposes must first undergo scientific evaluation and receive formal approval from the authority before it can legally be sold or advertised with health claims attached to it.