NAFDAC Raises Alarm Over Banned Alcoholic Energy Drinks
A fresh warning has gone out to Nigerian consumers and traders over two alcoholic energy drinks already barred from the market, after regulators across the border intercepted a sizeable stock of the products in circulation.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control raised the alert in Public Alert No. 032/2026, posted on its website. NAFDAC said it received notification that the Ghana Food and Drugs Authority confiscated approximately 140 boxes of a banned alcoholic energy drink found in circulation in the Upper East Region of Ghana.
The agency identified the products as Bel Ice Vodka Energy Drink, manufactured by Bel Beverages, Ghana, and Cody’s Vody Energy Mix, produced by Jens Warneke Export GmbH, Bremen, Germany. NAFDAC noted that both had previously been prohibited from sale and distribution in Nigeria over the health risks tied to combining alcohol with stimulant ingredients.
The science behind the concern is well established. NAFDAC warned that alcoholic energy drinks could pose health problems because stimulants may mask the effects of alcohol intoxication, causing consumers to underestimate their level of impairment. The agency said the products could expose users, “especially young adults and adolescents, to excessive alcohol intake, increased risk-taking behaviour, poor judgment and impaired coordination,” alongside “cardiovascular effects such as increased heart rate and elevated blood pressure, dehydration and sleep disturbances.”
The Ghanaian seizure that triggered the alert was no isolated swoop. On February 25, 2026, the Ghana Food and Drugs Authority ordered every importer, manufacturer and distributor of mixed alcoholic energy drinks to clear such products from the market by the end of March 2026, under Sections 81 and 82(a) of the Public Health Act, 2012. By late April, the FDA’s Western North office had seized more than 2,100 units of banned alcoholic energy drinks, followed by the Upper East haul in May.
For Nigeria, the warning lands at a moment when NAFDAC is already tightening the screws on how alcohol reaches young people. In January 2026, the agency resumed enforcement of its ban on alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and small PET or glass bottles below 200 millilitres, a policy rooted in a 2018 Memorandum of Understanding with industry that was meant to phase out the packaging by January 2024 before the deadline shifted to December 2025.
That enforcement drive has not been without friction. Members of the Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria, the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress protested at NAFDAC’s Lagos office in January, warning that enforcement could displace as many as 5.5 million workers. NAFDAC Director-General Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye has held firm, insisting that “this ban is not punitive; it is protective.”
NAFDAC said it has commenced post-market surveillance to keep the flagged drinks out of Nigeria and warned that regulatory action awaits anyone caught importing, distributing or selling them. Consumers were urged to report sightings to the nearest NAFDAC office or through its electronic platforms.
Given the cross-border trade that moves freely through West Africa, the likely next step is intensified port and border monitoring, with the products’ continued visibility on Ghanaian roads suggesting enforcement will need to outlast a single alert.