Public Health officials at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare have impounded large quantities of expired bottled drinks from various Gambega outlets in the country, thereby putting a public alert for people to be vigilant.

The expired drinks were discovered when the Health officials recently conducted an intensive inspection of the various Gambega outlets in the country.

Confirming this to the Daily Observer during an interview, Bolong Jobarteh, the deputy chief Public Health officer at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, said three months ago during inspections, public health officers discovered hundreds of expired crates of Gambega drinks in Gambega outlets in the country. He said they discovered about 55 crates of bottled drinks in Basse alone. He added that last week Tuesday, they again came across over 200 expired crates of Gambega bottled drinks in Bansang, Central River Region.

Jobarteh said that upon receiving the information, he also alerted the public health officers in Soma, Lower River Region, Farafenni, North Bank Region East, Essau, North Bank West, Brikama, Western Coast Region, Serekunda and Banjul to watch out for expired Gambega products in the market. "As all our people were on alert and vigilant, in Soma, the health officers were able to discover 824 crates of bottled drinks, all expired since September 2012, whilst in Brikama the team also discovered 425 canned drinks, all expired since May 2012," he added.

Jobarteh further stated that Public Health officers in Banjul also discovered 103 crates of expired bottled drinks in Gambega outlets. He advised members of the public to always check the production and expiry dates of bottled drinks before consuming. He assured that health officers will be more vigilant in their inspection while follow-ups will be made to the respective regions.