EU Ban: Senate Tasks NAFDAC, SON On Food Safety


The Senate, on Thursday, called on the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), and the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), to tighten its oversight on food and agricultural products to ensure global acceptance.

This followed a motion by Senator Francis Alimikhena (APC, Edo North) on European Union’s ban on Nigeria agricultural export products.

The products banned by the EU till June 2016, according to Alimikhena, are beans, sesame seeds, melon seeds, dried fish, dried meat, peanut chips, and palm oil.

He noted that the rejected beans, for instance, was found to contain between 0.03 mg kilogram to 4.6 mg kilogram of dichlorvos substance, contrary to acceptable limit.

The Senate equally called on ministries of Agriculture and Health and the National Food Safety Management Committee (NFSMC) to sanitize food and agricultural products imported into or exported out of Nigeria.

It further mandated its Standing Committee on Health and Agriculture, when constituted, to look into the matter with a view to overturning the EU ban on Nigerian agricultural products.

Presiding over plenary, the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, said the ban by the European Union was embarrassing, given the strength of the country in the international community.

He called on relevant stakeholders to wake up to their responsibilities.

He said: “The regulatory agencies should work to reverse this ban.

“As we talk about diversification we should take a good look at this, particularly because the EU market is closer to us than Asian markets.


http://dailyindependentnig.com/2015/08/eu-ban-senate-tasks-nafdac-son-food-safety/

Examine a little on your food sources

FoodVendors:
Examine a little on your food sources

Food safety: How safe is food in Nigeria?


Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. It is common knowledge that the condition of foods from the farms and handling by food processors are major determinants of nutritional status of a given society. But how safe is food in the country today?

Former Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, once stated that malnutrition contributes over 50 per cent of mortality among children under five years in Nigeria, hence the need to improve the quality of food processing in Nigeria.

Unfortunately, recent events have underlined the importance of food safety in Nigeria and Africa at large. An unprecedented number of food-borne disease outbreaks have been reported in Nigeria.

Experts say contamination of food and feeds arising from naturally occurring toxicants, microbiological contaminants, chemical contaminants such as additives used above the permitted levels, pesticide and veterinary residues in food or as toxic components from food processing could have deleterious effects in humans and animals. Bacterial contamination: Also, bacterial contamination, fungal toxins, pesticides and toxic metals have also been linked to food contaminants of major health concerns. Bacterial food-borne diseases caused by species of Salmonella, Clostridium, Campylobacter and Escherichia are of major health concerns in Nigeria. The presence of mycotoxins produced by toxigenic fungi in food and feed exacerbates endemic diseases such as malaria, hepatitis, HIV with consequent acute and chronic effects.

The lead poisoning in Zamfara state which caused the death of dozens of infants and children shows the poor attention given to toxic metals in food consumed in Sub Saharan Africa.

Improper use of food additives

Similarly, improper use of food additives such as artificial sweeteners, could result in various ailments ranging from gastrointestinal disorders to carcinogenesis and death.

All these have been blamed on the lack of or inadequate application of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and the abuse of agrochemicals by farmers and during storage.

This week, WHO is issuing the first findings from what is a broader ongoing analysis of the global burden of foodborne diseases. The full results of this research, being undertaken by WHO’s Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (FERG), are expected to be released in October 2015.

Some important results are related to enteric infections caused by viruses, bacteria and protozoa that enter the body by ingestion of contaminated food. Unfortunately, the African region which Nigeria is part of recorded the highest disease burden for enteric foodborne disease, followed by South-East Asia over 40 percent people suffering from enteric diseases caused by contaminated food were children aged under 5 years.

In the report (yet to be released), unsafe food poses major economic risks, especially in a globalised world. Germany’s 2011 E.coli outbreak reportedly caused US$ 1.3 billion in losses for farmers and industries and US$ 236 million in emergency aid payments to 22 European Union Member States.

These unprecedented occurrences may not be unconnected with the decision by the WHO to anchor this year’s World Health Day today, April 7 on Food safety related issues, with the theme: “From farm to plate, make food safe.”

A WHO manual for Integrated Food borne Disease Surveillance, notes that ensuring food safety is a critical and fundamental component of public health and food security. The manual states that efficient food safety and quality programmes reduce food losses by about 30 percent, which is important for food security.

Strengthening food safety: Furthermore, strengthening food safety will help minimize the burden of food borne diseases, reduce poverty and contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, 1, 4 and 8.

Sadly, while a number of countries and sub-sectors in the African Region have achieved notable progress in implementing food safety improvement strategies, many including Nigeria are still struggling to tailor their traditional food control systems to current food safety challenges.

The WHO manual shows that key response gaps include lack of policy coherence among the different sectors, inadequate food safety capacities, inadequate financial investments, fragmented food control systems, weak food borne disease surveillance, obsolete food regulation and weak law enforcement and the inability of small- and medium-scale producers to provide safe food.

In Nigeria, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has been in the forefront of ensuring food safety standards in the country. However, health watchers are unsure of the Agency’s end role.

A consultant on safety in health and environment, and Managing Consultant at First HACCP System Limited in Nigeria, Mrs. Zainab Akanji, in an interview noted that despite presence of regulatory agencies in the food safety and health sectors, there is poor enforcement of the processes.

Akanji blamed incidence that occurs daily in the areas of food poisoning and safety on handler error or non-compliance with food hygiene procedures. “We have food safety laws but most of them are there accumulating dust. If you ask a food business operator to tell you about food safety law and what he or she is meant to do as a food operator under the law, you will see that they won’t be able to tell you what the law says.”

She said for a complex nation like Nigeria, a well-designed and implemented safety and quality management system can reduce risk and improve performance and profitability.

In a statement, the WHO says a new data on the harm caused by foodborne illnesses underscore the global threats posed by unsafe foods, and the need for coordinated, cross-border action across the entire food supply chain.

Food supply chain

The WHO Director General, Dr. Margaret Chan argues that a local food safety problem can rapidly become an international emergency. “Investigation of an outbreak of foodborne disease is vastly more complicated when a single plate or package of food contains ingredients from multiple countries,” she states.

She suggests that efforts to prevent such emergencies can be strengthened, however, through development of robust food safety systems that drive collective government and public action to safeguard against chemical or microbial contamination of food.

“At the consumer end of the food supply chain, the public plays important roles in promoting food safety, from practising safe food hygiene and learning how to take care when cooking specific foods that may be hazardous (like raw chicken), to reading the labels when buying and preparing food. Safer food: The WHO Five Keys to Safer Food explain the basic principles that each individual should know all over the world to prevent foodborne diseases.

Food safety is a cross-cutting issue and shared responsibility that requires participation of non-public health sectors (i.e. agriculture, trade and commerce, environment, tourism) and support of major international and regional agencies and organizations active in the fields of food, emergency aid, and education.

However, as the world marks this year’s World Health Day, there is need for assent to the food science and technology safety bill before the presidency to reduce food poisoning and reposition Nigeria for global competitiveness.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/04/food-safety-how-safe-is-food-in-nigeria/

The Problem Of Food Safety In Nigeria

By: Debbie Ariyo  11:47 Pm, June 8, 2015Headlines, Opinion

One of the best parts of visiting Nigeria is the opportunity to sample cherished organically produced and prepared local meals. It means that many restaurants and food joints are visited for this purpose – of course the resultant effect is the weight gain there for everyone to know I have just been to Nigeria!However, recent news coming out of Nigeria about food safety now makes this cherished pastime a thing of the past.  In the space of a few weeks, there were reports of a very popular restaurant in Lagos being raided by food inspectors where maggots-infested foods of all sorts were discovered. This is so shocking and I cannot get the image out of my head. As if this was not enough, the global media carried a story of a restaurant in Anambra State found to serve human meat. While this story was later found to be untrue, the damage had of course already been done.This last week, celebrants at a wedding in Katsina were said to have fallen sick and died after eating food served at the event. A town in Ondo State was in the news a couple of weeks past due to people dying mysteriously. It was later found that they had consumed toxic, locally prepared drink.In India, the whole media is agog with news of the banning of Maggi Noodles – the country’s most popular brand of instant noodles. The products have been found to contain toxic chemicals – making them unfit for human consumption. To quote the Nigerian Vanguard Newspaper of 5 June 2015: “India’s main food safety regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India said laboratory tests had found overwhelming evidence that the instant noodles are “unsafe and hazardous” for human consumption” and that “five Indian States have temporarily banned Maggi Noodles for unsafe levels of lead.”  The agency said that the tests “also detected controversial chemical Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), a flavour enhancer”.   I read the above and other reviews of the Maggi Noodles saga and my thoughts went instantly to Indomie Instant Noodles – the most popular brand of noodles in Nigeria. I am left with deep concerns.When was the last time Indomie Noodles factories in Ota, Kaduna and Port-Harcourt went through a rigorous quality control test? When was Indomie Noodles itself last tested for safety? How about the other smaller noodles companies – are they regularly inspected? What exactly is in a packet of instant noodles made in Nigeria? I was curious to find out so I checked the website of Dufil Prima Foods – the makers of Indomie Noodles to get some idea of what is in their product – nothing – although the company also has a flour mill which I expect produces the flour used in their noodles. Aside this, there is no breakdown of what your average packet of Indomie Noodles is nutritionally consisted of.Without a doubt, many if not most Nigerians love Indomie noodles. The brand has about 75% of the Nigerian noodle market share and has done so since 1996.  Prior to that, it was the sole brand of noodles in Nigeria so it had 100% market share. Indomie Noodles and other brands have now become a staple of the Nigerian nutritional life. Some families have come to rely on it as a quick and hassle-free way of feeding their children. It is cheap and easy to prepare – and for whatever reason, children love it.So what is wrong with instant noodles? Ordinarily, noodles are made from wheat but in many countries where these products have been tested and found to be deficient, there are other very toxic materials used. According to the websitewww.mercola.com, In June 2012, the Korean Food and Drug Administration (KDFA) found a cancer causing substance called Benzopyrene in six brands of noodles made by a local company. Although KFDA said the amounts were too small to be harmful, the company itself identified batches of noodles with a problem, leading to a product recall. A key chemical used in noodles is Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), a flavour enhancer. It is one of the chemicals found in Maggi Noodles in India, which has now been banned. There are many debates about the safety of this chemical in food. The website http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/09/03/eating-instant-noodles.aspx says that: “MSG is an excitotoxin, which means it overexcites your nerve cells to the point of damage or death, causing brain dysfunction and damage to varying degrees — and potentially even triggering or worsening learning disabilities, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and more.” In short, the MSG flavour enhancer in instant noodles is potentially very harmful to your health.Generally, noodles have very little or no nutritional value. That is probably the real danger of this processed food. There is nothing at all in it to aid a child’s healthy growth. Parents who give their children noodles on a regular basis are risking their children’s health and wellbeing.Frankly speaking when I was growing up in Nigeria, there was nothing like instant noodles. We all ate rich, organic locally produced food that made us all healthy and strong. But now the Nigerian market is awashed with all sorts of low quality processed food from all sorts of countries. Many of these products imported into Nigeria will not pass routine safety tests in their countries of origin. With an opportunity for expansion, these products are now being produced in Nigeria itself. They are consumed willy-nilly by Nigerians and it seems very few people think about what is actually in them and the risks this may cause to their health. Instant Noodles, as far as I am concerned is not food. No parent should give to their child and I would appeal to well meaning parents to stop doing so immediately.So what is the role of NAFDAC in all of this? My charity AFRUCA UK has written to the agency asking it to conduct an immediate inspection of companies making instant noodles and their factories, and conduct a rigorous testing of all instant noodle products made in, or brought into Nigeria in the light of recent events in India. It is important that this issue is taken very seriously because of the millions of lives at stake. If any company is found to be feeding Nigerian children with toxic products, they should be banned from operating in the country and be made to face the full wrath of the law.It is about time Nigerians take seriously the quality of food they consume. By doing so, you might just be saving yourself and your family a lifetime of grief and avoidable health problems.

Source, http://dailytimes.com.ng/the-problem-of-food-safety-in-nigeria/

this a serious source of concern. it think its time Nigerian begin to take responsibility for what they put in their mouth.
the level pesticides and insecticides in our food is alarming also toxins.
there's been some isolated cases of food poisoning over the year which we have failed to look into.
I just pray that over the next few yr we would all suffer from renal DX, stroke and other chronic conditions

loadux:
this a serious source of concern. it think its time Nigerian begin to take responsibility for what they put in their mouth.
the level pesticides and insecticides in our food is alarming also toxins.
there's been some isolated cases of food poisoning over the year which we have failed to look into.
I just pray that over the next few yr we would all suffer from renal DX, stroke and other chronic conditions

food poisoning are mistaken for witchcraft in some communities

FoodVendors:
EU Ban: Senate Tasks NAFDAC, SON On Food Safety


The Senate, on Thursday, called on the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), and the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), to tighten its oversight on food and agricultural products to ensure global acceptance.

This followed a motion by Senator Francis Alimikhena (APC, Edo North) on European Union’s ban on Nigeria agricultural export products.

The products banned by the EU till June 2016, according to Alimikhena, are beans, sesame seeds, melon seeds, dried fish, dried meat, peanut chips, and palm oil.

He noted that the rejected beans, for instance, was found to contain between 0.03 mg kilogram to 4.6 mg kilogram of dichlorvos substance, contrary to acceptable limit.

The Senate equally called on ministries of Agriculture and Health and the National Food Safety Management Committee (NFSMC) to sanitize food and agricultural products imported into or exported out of Nigeria.

It further mandated its Standing Committee on Health and Agriculture, when constituted, to look into the matter with a view to overturning the EU ban on Nigerian agricultural products.

Presiding over plenary, the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, said the ban by the European Union was embarrassing, given the strength of the country in the international community.

He called on relevant stakeholders to wake up to their responsibilities.

He said: “The regulatory agencies should work to reverse this ban.

“As we talk about diversification we should take a good look at this, particularly because the EU market is closer to us than Asian markets.


http://dailyindependentnig.com/2015/08/eu-ban-senate-tasks-nafdac-son-food-safety/

Food safety measures in trade
Nigerian Export Promotion Council ( NEPC) on Tues­day inaugurated an inter agency committee with the man­date to chart a new course for the nation’s non oil exports with a view to ensuring a zero reject of Nige­ria’s export commodities.This is against the backdrop of the ban on some agricultural food exports from Nigeria by the European Union.Some of the food items banned from Europe till June 2016 as a result of non-compliance with standards are beans, sesame seeds, melon seeds, dried fish no meat, peanut chips and Palm oil.The inter agency technical com­mittee has sub division such as: Trade Information, Export Procedures and Documentation, and Capacity Building, Quality Standards and Compliance.Speaking during the inauguration, the Executive Director/ Chief Execu­tive Officer of NEPC, Mr Olusegun Awolowo, noted that recent economic and political developments the world over underscored the imperatives of de­velopment of non-oil produce.Awolowo, who noted that Nigeria witnessed a steady growth in non oil ex­ports in 2013 by contributing USD 2.97bil­lion to the economy, representing 15.9 percent increase over USD2.561billion in 2013, however noting that these gains could be marred by the wave of reject of Nigeria’s exportable productsAccording to him, “Nigeria is on the EU restricted list for some products which stipulates that there should be 50 percent physical inspection for speci­fied imported food items thereby creat­ing a barrier to food export trade”The NEPC boss listed some of the reasons for the rejects to include, non compliance to administrative proce­dures like documentation import/ export requirements, incorrect filling of information for entry, inadequate information and know how on entry/ requirement for food imports to EU.Others, according to him, include non adherence to food safety measures, presence of high levels of pesticide resi­due, technical bartier isues such as poor packaging, labelling, insufficient infor­mation on the nurritional content.Bemoaning the effects of this on the nation’s economy, Awolowo added,”The possible effects of this action on our economy especially as it relates to non oil exports include reduction in the number of agricultural food exports from Nigeria thereby shrinking export portfolio, Trade imbalance, high cost to the exporters who have to bear the cost of shipping the rejected products back to Nigeria or the cost of destroyed shipment and attraction of wide inter­national media attention and unfavour­able image.”He disclosed that the committee was carefully selected to ensure that Nige­rian agricultural and food items listed for exports conform to stipulated food safety measures and documentation re­quirements.

Continue http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/nepc-inaugurates-committee-on-non-oil-export-products/

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The ogun state government has raised alarm over the discovery of poisonous cattle skin popularly called ‘ponmo’ in large quantity.

Warning residents in the state against eating ‘ponmo’, the government made it known that some wicked people are taking the advantage of the high demand of the popular soup ingredient.

These businessmen distribute in bulk, ‘ponmo’ laden with tanning chemicals. According to the state commissioner for Agriculture, Ronke Sokefun, the toxic ‘ponmo’ are supposed to be used in the production of leather materials in foreign countries like Sudan, Italy and Japan. The tanned skins are sold to unsuspecting public even at a less cheaper rate.

Sokefu further implored the general public to be on the lookout for the ‘imported ponmo’ which is often brownish black, foul smelling, abnormally thick with layers and ridiculously cheap compared to the certified ponmo.

“Tanning chemicals like biocides and fungicides are added along the processing chain to preserve the hides against protein degradation, bacteria and mould growth that would have damaged the hides and skin,” she said.

Some time last year, some Nigerians had gone ballistic following reports that the federal government may soon ban the sale and widespread consumption of ponmo, a popular delicacy to many.