- How Nigerians consume contaminated food rejected in European countries
CAUTION ALERT. That was the mood triggered when the European Union banned several food items originating from Nigeria last year. Prior to the ban, cases of food poisoning leading to loss of lives were often reported. Last year, a family of six reportedly died after eating contaminated beans cake.
In 2015 and 2016, the European Union rejected 67 processed and semi-processed foods from Nigeria, citing poor quality, contamination and high levels of chemicals in the preserved products. Food items such as beans, melon seeds, palm oil, bitter leaf, pumpkin, shelled groundnuts and live snails topped the list. The pesticide level of banned beans from Nigeria was said to be between 30.03mg per kg to 4.6mg per kg of Dichlorvos pesticide, while the acceptable residue limit is 0.01mg/kg.
The chemical contents notwithstanding, Nigerians at home consume these food items with relish. The absence of labeling or inadequate labeling in many cases, render many consumers helpless as they are forced to buy food from the open market without gleaning adequate information on the chemicals used for preservation.
Findings show that melon, one of the exported food items banned by the European Union, which is a soup delicacy consumed with relished in Nigeria can be compromised by aflatoxins, a toxin produced by certain fungi found on agricultural crops. Contamination of melons has become rampant in recent time as many no longer follow the conventional style of removing melon seeds from its protective shell but rely on ground melon wrapped in cellophane bags purchased in the open market. The melon reacts with the cellophane’s petroleum residue, making it become oxidized over time. This eventually prompts free radicals to be stocked into the melon soup.
Also, with Nigeria’s haphazard storage system and the long process of transporting food from the farms to ready markets; shelled groundnuts, another exported banned food item consumed in Nigeria, is easily infected with fungi. The fungi react by denaturing the oil.
Aflatoxin causes infertility, abortions and delayed onset of egg production in birds; a research published by Dr. Oladele Dokun, a veterinary doctor at the Nigeria’s Animal Care Laboratory has shown. Dr. Dokun further said that loss of appetite, skin discoloration or even yellowish pigmentation on the skin can be observed in fish.
In humans, aflatoxin poisoning, known as aflatoxicosis is said to cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and convulsion. Side effects also include a collection of fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema), a collection of fluid in the brain (cerebral edema), abnormalities of the blood and blood cancer even in children. Bleeding, liver damage and cancer, kidney and heart damage are also listed.
Sharing a personal experience, Mr. Femi Kusa, a columnist and fellow of the Nigerian Association of Physicians of Natural Medicine recalled how he once ordered 20 litres of fresh palm kernel oil from a region of the country but was shocked to find a white film over it days later.
“It was fungi! So, I threw the keg and its contents away and proceeded with the detoxification of my system. This sort of thing can make one ill, and an inexperienced doctor would merely provide drugs to suppress symptoms he observes and not uproot the cause(s).
“If you shrug your shoulders in disbelief, saying our grandparents ate these things and live to ripe, old age, you may not have looked at the other side of the equation. That other side was their diet! Did they consume sugar the way we do today? Did they eat junk foods? Were they stressed up the way we are? Did they not sleep longer and more restfully than we do? Their bodies were not as weak as ours, and probably didn’t collapse as easily as ours do under aflatoxin bombardment”, Mr. Kusa queried, in a piece titled “Aflatoxins in Nigerian Foods”, published in the Natural Remedies for Sound body and Mind column.
Prof Kolawole Adebayo, a rural development expert, believes the influx of contaminated food in the country is as a result of activities in the informal food sector which produces most of the food consumed.
“If you want to buy garri, you don’t look for the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) number because you are going to buy it in the local market. However, if you set up a company who wanted to sell packaged Garri, then you need a NAFDAC number. This same rule applies if you want to export outside of Nigeria”.
Commenting on the banned Nigerian food items in Europe, Prof Adebayo who is also the Project Director, ‘Cassava: Adding Value for Africa Phase II (CAVA II)’, affirmed that once there is evidence of some unwanted bodies in a food crop, the importing nations are within their rights to reject it.
“I think the problem the agric export sector faces in this instance is that some of the exporters did not get the required certificate, not because the food in themselves were bad. This is a problem of the government per say in terms of how it implement its own programmes and policies and what it allows to go in or come out of this country”, he stressed.
Emphasizing on the need for active inspection of food items in the open market by regulatory government agencies; he also canvassed for the promotion of radio awareness jingles to inform consumers on the need to be discerning. 
Also, the President, Federation of Agriculture Commodity Association of Nigeria, Dr. Victor Iyama in a chat with The Nation maintained that contamination of food from Nigeria is not as rampant as orchestrated by the European Union.
Speaking on unsafe food in the informal sector, he averred that contaminated foods imported are compromised by packaging, based on the presence of preservatives and storage.
“The few contaminations from the farms would be those that use expired or banned chemicals. That is why we are trying to eject bad packaging, especially hydrocarbon free bags. We are also training farmers to adopt organic fertilizers. Though that has its cost as the yields would be limited, but it is better to have safe food than fantastic yield,” he submitted.
Faced with the reality that some of the food items in the open markets are infected with rodents; he revealed that plans are underway to embark on radio jingles to educate food vendors in order to prevent possible outbreaks of diseases like Lassa fever.
Early last year, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh raised a warning, saying Nigerians might be killing themselves in installment through the food they eat. Food items mentioned included moi-moi wrapped with cellophane and sachet water exposed to the sun at 28 degree Celsius. He also added that many of the cows shepherd by herdsmen are already infected with tuberculosis.
Asked to speak on efforts made at safeguarding food in Nigeria, Dr Abubakar Jimoh, the Director of Special Duties and Communication, National Agency For Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), told The Nation that the agency is working with farmers to ensure that whatever is produced at home will not be rejected by the international community.
“We have recently established a veterinary department which works closely with Nigerian farmers and even animals that have contaminated drugs administered to them. We do not want them to get into the body of an average consumer”.
Dr. Jimoh also stated that the agency has been educating farmers on correct chemical applications for food storage in order to prevent food contamination.
Advising Nigerians on precaution measures, Prof Ngozi Nnam, a former National President of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria tasked Nigerians to consume fruits and vegetables rich in powerful antioxidants in order to suppress the effect of contaminated food.
“Nature has a way of taking care of contamination but our problem in Nigeria is that we don’t take enough food rich in antioxidants. Vitamin A and C are good sources derived from fruits and vegetables. Nigerians should consider adding fruits and vegetables to their diets as they help protect the body from the harmful effect of contaminants”, she advised.
Reporting done with support from CodeforAfrica.
