The National Agency for Food & Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) announced that it has confiscated 1,600 cartons of Dubic malt beverages packed in 330ml bottles in Gombe commercial area, Gombe State.

The regulatory agency’s Gombe State Coordinator, Bedima Gonzuk, disclosed this in an interview with Northern City News in Gombe on Tuesday.

She said that the seizure took place on Friday and warned consumers of carbonated and similar beverages to be observant.

Gonzuk said that the store owner, Saleh Maina, and his employees were caught tampering with the expiry date before they were apprehended by NAFDAC operatives.

“Our officers went out for normal routine checks and from experience towards the end of the year and because of the rush between December and January, there is always an upsurge in the sale of beverages,” she said.

“People usually sell products that are already expired and most of the times move them from towns to the suburbs. It was not that we had a tip-off.

“We got to Saleh Maina’s warehouse and ran into some youths, who were using methylated spirit to clean the date marking on the PET bottles of the Dubic Malt drink. We seized about 1,600 in total packed in 12 bottles of 330ml each; some expired in July and others in October, but they were busy cleaning the expiry dates, perhaps ready to move them to the suburbs.

“Right now, we have evacuated the whole thing to the NAFDAC store to ensure that they are not circulated.

“We will commence regulatory actions on the owner of the warehouse as I await the outcome of my report to the headquarters.”