The Nation Newspaper

Tag: National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC)

  • NAFDAC to Nigerians: Stop contaminates food with chemical

    The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC) has warned cereal, nuts, legume and other dry grains sellers across the Nigerian markets, and general public to disengage from the use of insecticides to preserve such commodities.

    To underscore the effects on human consumers, NAFDAC through its Directorate of Food Safety Applied Nutrition (FSAN) held a one day ‘Food Safety Stakeholders Workshop’, to enlighten, educate, and provide information to all relevant stakeholders in the Food Chain of ‘From farm to table’.

    The program proffered solutions to the causes of food poisoning in Nigeria. These include- food borne ailment, physical, chemical, and biological contaminants in food and other related health risk.

    NAFDAC described Food poisoning, also called foodborne illness, as illness caused by eating contaminated food. Infectious organisms including bacteria, viruses and parasites are the most common causes of food poisoning.

    According to reports, 4.5 billion pounds chemicals are bought per year, 890 active ingredients while 30,000 were formulations. 75 percent of these chemicals are uses for agricultural process with 25 percent are used for home, and garden structural.

    In safeguarding the health of the nation, Director, FSAN, Sherif Olagunju spoke on ‘Food safety issues in our environment’, noted that inappropriate use of antibiotics, containers and contaminated packaging are some of the challenges affecting our food in Nigeria.

    “Farmers should take note that there are specified periods that must be mandatorily observed between application of veterinary drugs and processing or consumption of such animals for food and it is important. This is because cooking does not eliminate the dangers or risks posed by these agents of health.

    Read Also: NAFDAC to destroy N198bn seized tramadol

    “Rats are the source of Lassa fever because they carry a huge load of pathogenic bacteria hence it is very important keep items covered and protected from any form of contamination,” he said.

    Olagunju however, appealed to all participants in the value chain of all NAFDAC regulated products to be alive to their responsibilities and ensure that they operate strictly within guidelines of approvals given by the agency.

    “NAFDAC cannot do everything alone; we are appealing to you all to join in safeguard the public health. Those selling calcium carbide for instance, know that it was not approved for them for use in food, so why should you sell or allow access by fruit sellers?

    “The same applies to formalin used for embalming. Why should someone selling frozen chicken, meat, or fish have access to it? Why same also applies to the various pesticides and agrochemicals,” he question.

    Also commenting, the Director General, NAFDAC, Prof. Christiana Mojisola Adeye represented by Mrs Aribeana Olubunmi said the workshop is organised to educate, correct and straighten those things we are not doing right out of ignorance.

    “Using carbide to preserves or ripens fruits can lead to cancers, kidney and liver failure because all the things you eat today will have effects on you, might not be instantly but in the forthcoming years. If you are doing this out of ignorance or greediness, if you decided not to eat from the carbide fruit, your families might eat from eat.

    Olubunmi, however, urged everyone to act as change agents to disseminate this message to everybody in home, market and even on social media.

    Speaking from expert view, Dr. Tunde Sigbeku explained that  a person may be exposed to the associated risk of Dichlorovinyl Dimethyl Phosphate Compound (DDVP) commonly known as Sniper. It is a very toxic chemical which reacts very easily with the lungs and kidney just by inhaling them which is a major cause of cancer.

    “A person may be exposed to the associated risk of DDVP through inhalation, absorption via the skin, ingestion, and eye contact,” he stated.

    NAFDAC assured that it will continue to ensure that food manufactured, imported, exported, distributed, sold, advertised and used in Nigeria meet the highest standard of Food Safety. And reasonably achievable too.

  • NAFDAC, NMA partner on eliminating harmful oil by December 2019

    The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC) and Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has agreed to work together to ensure the elimination of harmful oil in the country by December 2019.

    The partnership is also to ensure the reduction of consumption of Trans Fatty Acids to not more than 2% within the period.

    Consequently, a committee to drive the policy of action would be inaugurated by Friday. The committee is to comprise representative from NAFDAC, NMA, and other relevant stakeholders.

    Only recently, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) called for the elimination of TFAs from the global food supply, and released an action package called REPLACE that includes policy recommendations and interventions for governments to pursue.

    Speaking on the agreement which was reached yesterday when the leadership of NMA paid an advocacy visit to the management of NAFDAC in Abuja, the Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye said the agency is ready to work with NMA to save the lives of Nigerians.

    Adeyeye described as very worrisome the high rate of sudden death in the country, with many of the death attributed to diet.

    She stressed, “I don’t know how many Nigerians have died of Trans Fatty Acids and hydrogenated oils.”

    Read Also: NAFDAC commends NBC, Coca-Cola Nigeria

    NAFDAC boss also called for more advocacies so as to properly sensitize the people on the danger of consuming toxic oil.

    “We have to talk to our people that fatty oil kills,” she stressed.

    Hence, she said NAFDAC was prepared to work with NMA to ensure that the set date is achieved.

    “We are all on the same page on the issue of TFAs and hydrogenated oils,” she added.

    On the issue of policy, she said the country needs to have a policy. Something both parties agreed to, leading to the setting up of a committee to midwife a working policy for the elimination of harmful oil.

    In his earlier remark, NMA president, Dr. Francis Faduyile pointed out that TFAs are toxic chemicals that are unarguably implicated in the epidemics of sudden deaths in Nigeria traceable to heart attacks.

    Faduyile also revealed that from a research work carried out by Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), 44% of sudden death is from hypertension, while other are from heart related.

    “All of them have something to do with diet,” he added.

    NMA president also stressed,  “We are here today as part of our continuing efforts to collaborate with all industry stakeholders to work through the entire policy process to see the effective restriction of the content of TFAs in our food chain to not more than 2% while hydrogenated oils like those in margarines are totally banned in Nigeria.”

     

  • FG donates relief materials to IDPs in Edo

    …As Obaseki makes case for Libya returnees

     

    The National Logistics Committee on Distribution of Relief Materials has donated relief items to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) being accommodated in Edo State.

    Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs, Azarema Abdulkadir, disclosed this when he led members of the committee on a courtesy visit to Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki at Government House, Benin City.

    Noting that the donation marks the fifth round of distribution of relief materials to the IDPs in the state, he said the relief materials include; “10,653 bags of 50kg of rice; 33 cartons of 400mg tin of tomato paste; 1,232 cartons of 70mg of tomato paste; 210 pieces of five litre gallons of vegetable oil and 40 pieces of two litre bottles of vegetable oil.”

    Other items are: “5,822 small cartons of Lucozade boost drinks; 993 cartons of Eva soap; 4 cartons of liquid soap; 11 cartons of tablet soap; 329 bales of second-hand clothes and 2,159 pieces of shoes.”

    Read Also:Customs donates 10, 653 bags of rice, other items to Benin IDPs

    Abdulkadir expressed appreciation to state government and people for accommodating persons displaced by the ongoing insurgency in the North East, as the Federal Government continues to make efforts to restore peace in the region.

    “The judicious distribution of the materials by officials in the camp would have tremendous impact on the lives of the IDPs,” he added.

    Governor Godwin Obaseki, who lauded efforts of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government in providing succour to the IDPs, urged the committee to include returnees who are victims of human trafficking in their programme.

    He said, “One of the challenges the state government is dealing with is the resettling and reintegration programme for 3,000 returnees who are victims of human trafficking. We are expecting about 6,000 others. 

    Obaseki assured the committee that the state government will ensure equitable distribution of the relief materials to the IDPs. 

    He urged the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to also ensure that materials donated are properly stored to prevent damage.

     

     

  • FG orders NAFDAC to cut down registration period

    FG orders NAFDAC to cut down registration period

    As part of the efforts to improve the ease of doing business in the country, the federal government Tuesday ordered the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC) to reduce products registration period by 30 days.

    Currently, it takes 90 days to register products with NAFDAC.

    With the new directive, henceforth registration of should not be more than 60 days.

    Speaking in Abuja Tuesday at the NAFDAC stakeholders’ consultative forum on the ease of doing business in Nigeria, the Vice President, Yemi Osibanjo, said that this will encourage business owners.

    The Vice-President, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Fola Johnson, said a shorter period of sixty days is possible.

    He therefore charged NAFDAC to speed up its process of registration as this was one of the best ways to encourage small businesses.

    He said, “Sixty days is possible. Collectively let us put our house in order. Let MSMEs, NAFDAC and the Federal Government, target 60 days. The shorter the time for registration, the better for MSMEs, because just to collect a registration numbers should not take months, when will you start the business? When will you start making profits?

    “Any MSME that employs a person today is doing the Federal Government a huge favour. What the Federal Government is supposed to do is create an enabling environment.

    “It is the private sector that drives the economy, so we must encourage every activity that drives that space,” he said.

    In his reaction, the acting Director-General of NAFDAC, Mr. Ademola Mogbojuri, said the agency had reduced its registration period from a maximum of one year to a minimum of 90 days.

    He however assured that efforts would be made to ensure that it is brought down to between a month and 60 days especially for small businesses.

    On other measures taken to encourage small businesses, Mogbojuri, who was represented by Mr. Abubakar Jimoh, Director, Strategy said the agency had recently slashed by 50 per cent the cost of registration for companies with less than five employees.

    He said:  “In order to encourage MSMEs, NAFDAC has guaranteed a 50 per cent reduction in cost of registration of products for companies with five or less than five employees “We’ve also reduced the registration time to 90 days and established a small business support desk to guide small business through the registration process and serve as enquiry point for small businesses on regulatory issues.

    “NAFDAC has set up a system for the electronic submission of documents to line directorates to reduce the time taken for hard copies to get to such directorates in Lagos,” he noted.

    Magbojuri also hinted that NAFDAC would ensure that bread registration is done within 30 days while the fees charged for registration of locally manufactured products are lower than those charged for imported products.