The Center of Awareness Food Supplement (COA FS), rebranded as COA Mixture and now licensed as a herbal medicine, has today been relaunched with a strong reassurance it is “completely” safe for public consumption.
It would be recalled that in March this years, the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) withdrew two consignments of COA FS from the market following reports they were contaminated with some microbial substances unsafe for human consumption.
The company, the COA Herbal Center, was then compelled to suspend production in April this year and fix its processes and manufacturing plant.
It has since spent millions of dollars revamping the production plant into a fully-fledge state-of-the-art herbal research center named COA Research and Manufacturing Company Limited (COA RMCL) located at Wusorkrom in the Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese District of the Central Region.
FDA has since September 2020, revoked the suspension of COA’s license, clearing the way for the production of the efficacious COA food supplement with the new brand name, COA Mixture.
At a press launch today, Founder and CEO of COA, Professor Samuel Ato Duncan assured the public that COA has met all FDA requirement by showing proof of measures put in place to prevent contamination, adding that the product has therefore been cleared as very safe for public consumption.
He said COA has now been certified to be marketed as a herbal medicine and not just a food supplement like before, adding government has even agreed for the product to be distributed to all forty government health facilities across the country.
National Organizer of Ghana Federation of Traditional Medicine Practitioners (GHAFTRAM), Dr. Peter Kwabena Hagan confirmed that indeed COA Mixture was ready to be distributed to all forty government hospitals across the country, adding that it is a big plus for the local herbal medicine industry.
Director of the Centre for Plant Medicine Research – Mampong, Dr. Kofi Bobi Barima also ascertained the high standards and authenticity of the new product, saying it is safe for human consumption and still as efficacious against viral organisms as always.
Meanwhile, in her address, a deputy Minister of Health, Gifty Tina Naa Ayeley Mensah said government is committed to building the herbal medicine industry because of its contribution to the health of the populace.
