Frozy is back: Malawi Bureau of Standards lifts ban on Mozambican fizzy drink

Mozambican made fizzy drink Frozy can now be imported, distributed, and sold in Malawi as the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) has lifted its ban on the drink, Malawi24 can report.

In a statement released, MBS says it has lifted the ban after the drink’s manufacturer Yaafico Industries complied with the bureau’s requirement on acid levels.

The manufacturer of the drink however is yet to address the issue of labelling and the bureau has given the company until February 20th to do so.

MBS instituted a ban on the sell, distribution and use of Frozy in November due to critical failure of the product on labelling and high levels of citric acid and benzoates. The Mozambican manufacturer of the drink was told to address the two issues before the drink could be sold on the Malawian market.

“Among the actions taken, was the obtaining of random samples of Frozy drinks from the company and from the market for running conformity assessments with regard to MS 18-Carbonated soft drinks- specification and MS 19-Labelling of prepacked foods-General Standard soft drinks specification,” says a statement from MBS.

According to the statement, following that exercise Yaafico Industries Ltd has complied and Frozy drinks are now compliant to MS 18 specifications, but remain noncompliant to MS 19 as storage conditions are not indicated and some markings are in a language not easily understandable by the Malawian user.

“Considering that the labelling shortfalls are of less risk to the consumer, the MBS hereby advises the general public that the ban, which was imposed on the sell and use of the product in Malawi, is lifted pending the manufacturer’s complete redressal of the labelling shortfalls by 20th February, 2017,” reads part of the statement from the bureau.

MBS has also said it will continue to carry out quality monitoring processes on the product under its Import Quality Monitoring Scheme (IQMS), which shall include border inspections, sample analyses and market surveillances, among others to ensure its compliance on the market.

Meanwhile the Mozambican manufacturer of the drink has appointed KU Investment as the sole importer and distributor of Frozy drinks in the country in a bid to ensure sanity.

The lifting of the ban is expected to come as a relief to many Malawians who found Frozy as a cheaper alternative to other popular drinks.