A young pregnant woman in the Upper East Region has found herself in trouble after the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) slapped her with a GH¢25,000 fine for promoting unregistered products on TikTok.
Identified as Perpetual Akurugu from Yorogo in the Bolgatanga Municipality, the woman was seen in several videos advertising aphrodisiacs and body enhancement products she allegedly kept in her kitchen cabinets.
According to the Acting Regional Head of the FDA, Mr. Abel Ndego, the discovery was made during one of his routine late-night monitoring sessions on social media.
“Around 2 a.m., I came across her video speaking Gurune and advertising products. I checked her page and saw several similar videos. We downloaded them, planned a strategy, and arrested her,” he recounted.
The FDA team later stormed her residence, seized all unregistered items, and initiated legal action. Mr. Ndego stressed that pregnancy would not exempt her from legal responsibility.
“The law will take its course to ensure she does not repeat such an act,” he warned.
He lamented the growing misuse of social media for the promotion of unregistered and unsafe products, adding that the FDA would intensify surveillance on TikTok, Facebook, and other platforms to protect public health.
“We are mandated under the Public Health Act 851 (2012) to ensure all regulated products meet required standards. We won’t relent in keeping unsafe products off the market,” he added.
In a separate operation, a regulatory team led by Mr. Jiah Jiato Juah, Regulatory Officer I, stormed several cosmetic shops in Bolgatanga, including Malbas Body Essentials and Cosmetics at Soe, where unregistered beauty and aphrodisiac products were discovered.
Despite the shop owner’s pleas of ignorance, the items were confiscated.
“We’re taking the products for analysis and guiding her through the registration process,” Mr. Juah said, assuring that routine surprise inspections would continue to clean up the market.
The FDA reiterated its commitment to making the Upper East Region one of the most compliant in Ghana, vowing to leave no stone unturned in its enforcement drive.
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