The country National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has arrested a 56-year-old man, Christopher Nnabuihe, for selling faked Peak Milk.
According to report, the suspect, who lives at 42, Cameroun Road in Calabar, Cross River State, has confessed to the crime.
A NAFDAC statement made available to Southern City News on Tuesday quoted Nnabuihe as confessing that he procured cheap powdered milk and branded and branded it as Peak Milk, which is more expensive.
“I buy the already printed (Peak Milk) 440g packs from Ariaria Relieve Market in Aba, Abia State and bring it to Calabar for refilling. I seal them up with candle light.
“One 50 kilogram of the milk will fill 27 pieces and that is two cartons and three pieces. I sell one carton of the fake Peak Milk for N6,000 and make a profit of N1,000 per carton.
“You can only suspect it to be counterfeit through the taste because the packaging for the fake and the original is the same,” he was quoted as saying.
The Cross River State Coordinator of NAFDAC, Dr. Isaac Kolawole, said the agency acted on a tip-off to arrest Nnabuihe.
“We have been receiving complaints of adulterated Peak milk from consumers, which made us to swing into action. The suspect was arrested when he was supplying the products to departmental shops.
“Taking such an unwholesome and questionable product may result in some form of health problems as nobody can vouch for the content of the fake product and the good hygienic practice. We will carry out laboratory analysis on the product,” he said.
Kolawole warned that the agency would continue to track persons who indulge in adulteration of NAFDAC regulated products for arrest and prosecution.
He said the prosecution of Nnabuihe had commenced at a Magistrate’s Court in Calabar while judgment had been fixed for November 28, 2016.