Malawi, Mozambique soft drink Frozy row rages on
Mozambique health authorities say they will carry out tests on a locally produced soft drink, Frozy, after Malawi banned it over “high levels of citric acid”.
Recently, the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) banned the importation and selling of the Mozambican produced Frozy drink for failing to meet required Malawi Standards.
The bureau said the drink has failed to conform to standards as stipulated by the institution under the import quality monitoring scheme.
Apart from failing conformance tests the ban has been effected because the products have some information provided in Portuguese language contrary to MS 19 labeling requirements.
But the producer of Frozy in Mozambique has denied that there is a problem with the drink, according to BBC’s Jose Tembe from the capital, Maputo though the tests will be carried out.
BBC reported on Friday that Malawi and Mozambique are in soft drink row.
The Mozambican company, Yaafico Industrial, which makes the Frozy brand of soft drinks, rejected claims by the Malawian Bureau of Standards (MBS) that the drinks do not meet the standards laid down by the Malawian authorities.
The company claimed that in the last analysis, in August, and in all previous ones, the levels of acidity detected were in conformity with the standards demanded by the LNHAA, and throughout the southern African region.
Frozy has only recently started appearing on Malawian supermarket shelves, but has become popular very quickly as it is being sold more cheaply than the locally produced soft drinks.
While some people commended the ban, others suspect that there may be more to this than a row over citric acid as most think this is about a trade war.
People have already started adhering to the ban but arguing that if Frozy had unrecommended amounts of citric acid and sodium benzoates, the drink could have been banned right away in Mozambique.
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :
I drink frozy in Malawi but the problem is with Corrupt Malawi Authority otherwise zimene akunena ndi zonama.
The genesis of this trade war is jealousy on the part of other well-known beverage makers.In recent weeks before the ban, we could actually see Frozy drink being served in weddings and not traditional fantas and cokes.The drink took the market by storm.Fearing that they will be squeezed out of market, some beverage makers resorted to waging war against Frozy.Bring back my beloved frozy or else i will commit suicide!
zikumatithyova mmaukwatimu economy at it’s best
Vuto pa Malawi Pano si frozy vuto ndi magetsi
Nothing from mozambique can be good. The only good thing from moz is their Makala. Mozambique are on average, bad uneducated corrupt people. Please import from Zambia!
Obviously you have never been to Mozambique. Go to Maputo and lets start talking.
All in all, we are going for Frozy because of poverty but if one was to freely choose between cocacola products and this so called Frozy, say during a party, very few will go for Frozy. Truthfully, Frozy is not a nice drink, you really feel it, when drinking, that slowly I’m killing myself.
this drink, or slow poison is bad news. If we have said that it is not good for us, why should they still force us to drink it? Some Nigerians are actually behind this madness.
I
m sure youre not being forced to drink it. You just like cheap stuff