Zambian Breweries – ZB, a local unit global brewing giant AB InBev has announced its plans to start producing alcohol based hand-sanitizers to be donated to the Ministry of Health towards the fight against the COVID-19 using commercial ethanol.
ZB Corporate Affairs Director Ezekiel Sekele told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT in an exclusive interview on April 17, 2020, that the company is currently considering the production of hand sanitizers not for commercial purposes but for the donation towards COVID-19 and is awaiting approval from the Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority – ZAMRA.
He said ZB is expected to begin the process in a weeks time as it is currently working with its laboratory technicians to ensure it meets World Health Organization – WHO standards of 80% alcohol adding that once approval is given it will package in 250ml bottles for the donation.
When asked about the quantity of hand sanitizers to be produced and its investment, Sekele said the quantity of hand sanitizers will be determined once discussions with ZAMRA come to a conclusion as the process requires different parameters compared to the system used when producing alcohol for human consumption.
“Given the knowledge and experience that we have in alcohol production, we are considering to start producing alcohol based hand sanitizers to be donated to hospitals during this pandemic. It should also be noted that content of alcohol needed for hand sanitizer is as high as 70 to 80% compared to 4 to 5% percent used for human consumption hence this will require different systems and techniques to undertake the project,” He said
He added that the company is keen into ensuring that the law is followed considering that some individuals have taken advantage of the situation to supply counterfeit products in the name of making profit.
When asked if ZB considers to manufacture ethanol locally rather than importing it, ZB Public Relations Consultant Gillian Langmead said in a separate interview that producing ethanol is not a simple process as it needs to comply with strict measures to make sure that alcohol is distilled correctly to be used for human care.
She said Zambian Breweries currently does not have technology to produce ethanol as the current brewing process creates alcohol from its natural fermentation process but needs the equipment to extract the alcohol to produce sanitizers which is called de-alcoholization process.
