STATEMENT ON THE QUALITY OF WARAGI ON THE UGANDAN MARKET

  7th March , 2019 ,       Hits: 432

Kampala, 7th March 2019. Our attention is drawn to the article that appeared in the Observer newspaper under the headline: “Lab tests find hazardous metals in all Uganda's sachet waragi”.
The Uganda National Bureau Standards (UNBS) as the industry regulator, would like to inform the public that the brands mentioned in the article which include Uganda Waragi, Bond 7 Whisky, Chief Waragi, Royal Vodka, Kick Gin Pineapple, and Brigade Gin. The others are Big 5 Vodka and Goal Vodka, Beckham Gin and V6 Tangawizi Vodka were certified by Uganda National Bureau of Standards and therefore meet the requirements of relevant Uganda standards.
Furthermore, these products are regularly tested to ascertain their quality which includes absence of heavy metals.
We would like to further inform the public that UNBS has the state of the art laboratory equipment including the Induction Coupled Plasma -Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES) and the Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) which are used to test heavy metals in food products and this capacity has been used to test and assure the quality of all certified foods and beverages.
UNBS therefore advises the general public to consume only packaged foods and beverages that are certified and have a distinctive mark on their labels.
Following the publication of the above story, our investigations have since established that the Relax and Ssalongo gin brands mentioned in the article are not certified by Uganda National Bureau of Standards and are therefore not recommended for consumption.
UNBS would like to urge the public to always look out for UNBS Distinctive Mark for assurance that locally manufactured products meet the required standards and report any cases of substandard products on the market on our toll free line: 0800 133 133.
UNBS will continue to perform its mandate of enforcing standards to protect consumer health and safety and the environment against dangerous and sub-standard products.
About UNBS
The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is a statutory body responsible for developing standards and promoting the quality and competitiveness of products and services in order to facilitate fair trade, promote local industries and protect consumers.