SON probes alleged discovery of cockroach in beer

Director-General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, Dr. Joseph Odumodu

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria has commenced a laboratory analysis of two bottles of 33 Lager Beer produced by Consolidated Breweries Plc, which were said to have expired and contained dead cockroaches.

The organisation has also promised that it will soon come out with an unbiased report on the incident.

The Senior Legal Officer, SON, Mrs. Chioma Chudi, said this while presiding over a meeting between the legal representatives of a customer, Rose Irhene, and officers from the legal department of Consolidate Breweries led by Mr. Tosan Albani.

Chudi said, “SON will not shirk its statutory responsibility of protecting Nigerians from being exposed to dangerous products and the outcome of the test will ascertain the source of the exhibits and how they reached the spot where the petitioner bought them.”

Irhene’s lawyers, led by Mr. Peter Oriaran, had despatched a petition to SON complaining of expired and substandard 33 Lager Beer, which she allegedly bought and drank.

If both parties refuse to shift ground, the firm may face a consumer complaint suit of N100m in the next few days.

Also on the team of Consolidated Breweries at the meeting was Mr. Ben Ilukwe, its Regional Manager for Abuja and Middle Belt, who had earlier denied that the products emanated from his supplies.

In the petition obtained by journalists on Wednesday, Oriaran informed SON that the consumption of the affected drink by his client during which a dead cockroach and other unidentified particles were found on May 6, 2012, was an institutional indictment on the part of the brewery.

He urged all government agencies saddled with the responsibility of regulating food and beverages in Nigeria to henceforth keep a close tab on Consolidated Breweries and its range of products with a view to saving lives of million customers across the country.