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Quick Overview: You cannot legally sell shito in Ghana — from a factory, a shop, or your home kitchen — until the product is registered with the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA). That is the law under Section 97 of the Public Health Act, 2012 (Act 851). The process runs: register your business, get your facility and food handlers in order, test your shito at an approved laboratory, apply online through the FDA’s G-FIRMS portal, pay the fees, pass the facility inspection, and collect a certificate that is valid for three years. For a micro-scale producer, the government fees start from around GHS 100 a year for registration plus roughly GHS 1,000 for laboratory testing, and the process typically takes one to three months. |
Key Facts: FDA Registration of Shito at a Glance
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Regulator |
Food and Drugs Authority (FDA Ghana) |
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Legal basis |
Public Health Act, 2012 (Act 851) — Section 97 prohibits selling unregistered food |
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Application portal |
G-FIRMS (Ghana FDA Integrated Regulatory Management System) |
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Product registration fee |
GHS 100 (micro) / GHS 200 (small) / GHS 300 (medium) / GHS 500 (large) per annum |
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Facility GMP inspection |
GHS 100 – GHS 700 per inspection, depending on scale |
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Laboratory testing |
About GHS 1,000 per sample (microbiology + food chemistry) at the FDA lab |
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Label evaluation |
GHS 200 per product variant |
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Typical timeline |
1–3 months (premium service around 1 month, at extra cost) |
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Certificate validity |
3 years; renew before expiry (late renewal attracts a 100% surcharge) |
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Small producers |
Progressive Licensing Scheme (PLS) — subsidised route for cottage and small-scale processors |
Why Your Shito Needs FDA Registration
Shito — Ghana’s beloved hot black pepper sauce of dried fish, shrimp powder, pepper, onions, spices and vegetable oil — has quietly become one of our most exportable food products. It sits on tables from Osu to London, and demand from supermarkets, restaurants and the diaspora keeps growing.
But here is the part many producers only learn after their first big order: the moment your shito is made for commercial sale — whether you cook 20 jars a week in your home kitchen or run a full production line — the law requires FDA registration before a single jar goes on the market. Your grandmother’s recipe may be perfect; the FDA still wants to see your peroxide value.
This guide covers the shito-specific details: the exact fees, the laboratory tests shito actually needs and why, the subsidised route for small producers, and the step-by-step process. For the general rules that apply to every food product, see our main guide on how to register food products in Ghana.
Can You Sell Shito in Ghana Without FDA Approval?
No. Section 97 of the Public Health Act, 2012 (Act 851) prohibits any person from manufacturing, selling, distributing or exposing food for sale unless the FDA has registered that food. This applies equally to homemade shito sold commercially. The FDA enforces this through market surveillance, and the consequences of non-compliance include product seizure, fines, and suspension of operations — and increasingly, being quietly delisted by supermarkets that now demand an FDA registration number before stocking any product.
FDA Registration vs Business Registration: What’s the Difference?
A common and costly confusion. Registering your business does not authorise you to sell shito, and registering your shito does not create your business. You need both, in that order.
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Business registration |
FDA product registration |
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Who handles it |
Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC) |
Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) |
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What it covers |
The legal entity carrying on business |
The specific product: its safety, quality, label and manufacturing conditions |
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Scope |
One registration per entity |
Product-specific — each product (and often each variant) is registered |
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Result |
Certificate of Incorporation / business name certificate |
Product Registration Certificate + FDA registration number on your label |
A company can be perfectly registered at the ORC and still be selling shito illegally if the product itself has no FDA registration.
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The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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