Food Safety Taskforce, ministry of health, Cross River State.
The factory located at No.5 Akekong Lane, Off Douglas Bassey, State Housing Estate, uses trashed plastic cans allegedly picked from drainages and dirty environment to serve the public.
Luck ran out of the owner, Mr. Bassey Gideon Attah, on Friday June 25th 2021, when the State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Betta Edu, led other officials of the ministry to the dirty environment used as factory.
According to the Commissioner, the Zobo production factory falls below standard and doesn’t meet any of the criteria of food safety regulations.
Mr. Attah who has been purportedly producing fake and unhygienic Zobo for public consumption for a couple of years, was apprehended while the factory was shutdown.
The Commissioner who frowned at the level of wickedness that could be exhibited by some persons to their fellow man said: “It’s so unfortunate that people could be this wicked and mean to their own fellow man, you can imagine the environment where the said Zobo is produced for public consumption.
“The so called fermented ginger which he claims adds spice to the Zobo drink is always left open with flies perching on them. The containers are unwashed and most times picked up at very dirty drainages and trashes, the environment itself is an eyesore, yet, people work here in the name of producing Zobo.
“Tell me why they won’t be outbreak of diseases like typhoid, dysentery, cholera. As a government we will not allow this to happen, as such, whoever is caught will be made to face the full weight of the law just like this man here today”.
Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr. David Ushie, called on cross riverians not to keep quiet when they come across illegal activities that could cause severe disease outbreak to the general public.
He tasked them to immediately call the attention of the Health Commissioner, himself, the Director of Public Health, Food Safety Department of the CRSMOH or even the Police so as legal actions could be taken on such a person.
Mr. Gideon Attah, who claimed ignorance said that he never knew there was a certain standard setup for the production of Zobo, promising that he would never embark on such an illegal activity.
He pleaded that he be given an opportunity to come to the ministry and get more knowledge on how he could run a hygienic factory.
