NAFDAC, Guinness argue over N1bn fine

Guinness Nigeria Plc has said that all products of the company conform are produced in line with globally accepted code of good manufacturing practice (GMP), and have been repeatedly so-certified by the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON).
Mr. Peter Ndegwa, Managing Director of the company said Thursday in a statement that “our consumers drink products that are healthy and comparable with similar products made by a Diageo facility anywhere else in the world.”
This is coming on the heels of reports that the company had been slammed with a fine of N1 billion by NAFDAC for allegedly re-validating expired raw materials without approval.
In defence of Guinness, Ndegwa stated, that the company’s major aim is the continuous enhancement of the quality of products Guinness Nigeria makes available to its consumers, adding, that “Indeed, with an investment in excess of N52billion in improving our manufacturing processes, our brewing plants would rank favourably among the most automated and modern brewing plants around the world.”
Responding to questions on the reported sanction on the company by NAFDAC, Ndegwa confirmed that Guinness Nigeria is indeed in receipt of a letter from NAFDAC.

Read also: Guinness donates to NYSC’s rural health program

“As a responsible corporate organization, we take these allegations which relate primarily to raw materials stored in one of our raw materials stores very seriously.”
He explained, that the said raw materials store is not a production facility and that “we are engaging NAFDAC for clarifications and resolution of the issues.”
According to Ndegwa, there is an extensive and elaborate process by which basic raw materials are first converted during the brewing stage, with lots of critical control points, before products are bottled and released to the market.
“Each of these painstaking steps is rigorously monitored for conformity with all necessary global standards which we regard as basic, as we always aspire to exceed the much higher standards that have been set internally by the Diageo Group.” The high quality of products from Guinness Nigeria’s breweries,” he said, “has been attested to repeatedly not only by NAFDAC but also by the Standards Organization of Nigeria, as well as the internal quality controls of the Diageo Group.”
Ndegwa reaffirmed that Guinness Nigeria is very positive that on account of its ongoing engagement with NAFDAC, the issues will be clarified and resolved in a short while.
Guinness Nigeria, a member company of Diageo Plc established its first brewery in Ikeja, Lagos in 1962, opening up more breweries located in Benin City and Aba respectively.

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