‘Banku and Okro’ Deaths: FDA Discovers Poison in Food

The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has found the presence of chlorpyrifos, a toxic substance commonly used in pesticides in the samples of the banku and dough at Akakpokope in the Volta region where six people were reported dead after consuming the food.

Following the deaths of the individuals the FDA sent samples to the FDA Quality Control Laboratory on Monday 5 March 2018 for analysis of which part of the samples were sent to the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA).

In a statement by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of FDA, Delese Darko which was released on Wednesday 14 March 2018, the authority said “laboratory results from the GSA on the 13th of March, 2018 indicated the presence of Chlorpyrifos” which confirms earlier analysis by the FDA.

FDA said they are forwarding the findings to the Public Health Directorate of the Ghana Health Service for further action.

The release added that “the FDA is not mandated to determine the cause of death. This can only be established after a pathological investigation”.

It will be recalled that residents in the area were thrown into a state of mourning after the initial death of four after they ate the meal on Sunday, 4 March.

The deceased, who were between the ages of 10 and 40, were said to belong to two separate families and coincidentally seemed to have eaten the same meal.

They were Peace Akakpo, 35; Elias Akakpo, 14; Comfort Aryee, 40; and Patience Kwaovi, 10. Two others also died later bringing the number of deaths to six.

Reports from the area indicate this is not the first time an incident of such nature has occurred in the community.

Source: ClassFMonline