Firm Petitions NAFDAC Seeks Clarification Over Report of Faked Product

A beverage manufacturing firm, Bullion Go-Neat Global Limited, has, again, challenged the National Agency for Foods, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to expose those responsible for counterfeiting its product known as “Coco Samba Milk and Chocolate Flavored With Herbal Extract.”

The manufacturing company, in a statement sent to journalists, noted that NAFDAC also needed to show transparency and credibility by doing everything necessary to back up its report on falsified Coco Samba products.

The company averred that clarifications became necessary after NAFDAC released a statement alerting the public to faked Coco Samba that was allegedly intercepted in Germany.

According to NAFDAC, the investigation revealed that the product with “A4-9149” was faked and this was different from that obtained from the NAFDAC database with “A8-4418L” for the genuine product.

Meanwhile, Bullion Go-Neat Global Limited and its CEO, Ambassador Olufemi Ajadi, on Monday, clarified that the company had stopped producing the product with registration “A8-4418L.”

“It is imperative to clarify that before the registration of Coco Samba Milk and Chocolate Flavored with Herbal Extract, our company produced Coco Samba Bitters Alcoholic drinks with NAFDAC No A8-4418L.

“However, due to low market demand, the production of Coco Samba Bitters Alcholic Drink was discontinued; and it has not been in production since the expiry date of the licence,” the CEO of Bullion Go-Neat Global Limited stated.

Ajadi also confirmed that the genuine registration number for Coco Samba Milk and Chocolate Flavored with Herbal Extract was A8-9149 and not A8-4418L as reported by NAFDAC.

He urged NAFDAC to do its job well by informing the public properly, noting that it was unacceptable that the agency which registered and certified Coco Samba Milk and Chocolate Flavored with Herbal Extract could not provide proper information to the public.

Ajadi also added that he was surprised when he read that faked Coco Samba was intercepted in Germany.

The young CEO further expressed frustration that to date NAFDAC has yet to reach out to Bullion Go-Neat or submit any laboratory report to back up the circulated report.

According to him, “Nobody served us any letter or notice concerning the alleged interception of our product in Germany. We approached several departments in NAFDAC and we were told there were no such complaints about our product anywhere.

“So, how did the report get to their website? Some media houses also began to report it without reaching out to us. We believe good journalism requires hearing from all sides before publication, but we were not consulted and our opinion wasn’t sought.

“As a company paying taxes to the government and providing employment to Nigerians, we deserve a say in whatever is going on, or that will affect our company.

“We expect that by now, NAFDAC should bring evidence or samples of the said product that they reported was not safe for human consumption.

“No complaints from our consumers in Nigeria about our product and no sample from NAFDAC as well.

“So, I am calling on NAFDAC to produce evidence from Germany where they claimed it happened. I am still in shock over all this. At one point, I began to feel maybe some criminals within NAFDAC were being paid to tarnish our image. NAFDAC need to sanitise itself by conducting a thorough internal investigation.”

Ajadi also issued strong warnings to those he said we’re seeking to bring down Coco Samba and Bullion Go-Neat Global Limited. He confirmed that the company had written to security agencies over the matter.

He also urged media houses to verify before publishing reports. He noted that Bullion Go-Neat Global Limited would not “fold its hands and allow anyone to use the media to destroy years of good service to the public.”