Despite being circulated nationwide for public consumption, companies producing Cway Water, Golden Penny Spaghetti, Peak Milk Powder, and other widely-consumed products failed to renew their operational licences from the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), exclusive documents obtained by The ICIR have shown.

Findings by The ICIR showed that the approvals previously granted to the companies manufacturing these products have expired. This means the NAFDAC might have failed to re-assess the products and the environment under which they are produced.

The NAFDAC regulates and controls the manufacture, importation, exportation, advertisement, distribution, sale and use of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, chemicals and packaged water in Nigeria.

According to the NAFDAC Act 2004, no food product or packaged water shall be manufactured, imported, exported, advertised, sold, distributed or used in Nigeria unless registered and approved by the agency.

The act provides that any manufacturer of consumables must apply for certification from the agency. The certificate of registration shall be valid for five years and should be renewed immediately after expiration.

According to the act, any company or individual found violating the regulation may be banned from engaging in the importation, exportation, manufacture, distribution, sale, or use of the food product. Additionally, they may be subject to a fine of N50,000.

The ICIR checked some selected widely consumed products in Nigeria on the agency’s website and sent an FOI to the organisation for further verification.

Five of the 14 selected product samples sent to NAFDAC for verification have not renewed their licenses.

Experts told The ICIR that this negligence by NAFDAC and the firms posed a threat to public health.

Cway and Eva Water
Findings revealed that Cway Ultra Park drinking water, a popular bottled water brand in Nigeria, lacks a valid NAFDAC licence. The manufacturer, Cway Nigeria Drinking Water Science and Technology Limited, based in Lagos state, registered the product in 2017 under number 01-3892, but the registration expired in 2022. Despite this, the company has continued selling the product nationwide.

Similarly, Eva Table Water, owned by Nigeria Bottling Company in Lagos, operates illegally without due certification. The certificate with the registration number 01-0492 issued to the company for its production and sale in February 2013 has expired since 2018.

Peak Milk Powder
Another product being sold across the country with expired certification is Peak Milk Powder, a popular brand of instant milk powder in Nigeria, produced by FrieslandCampina, a Dutch multinational dairy company. Findings by The ICIR show that the certification for the product expired in 2020.

Golden Penny Spaghetti
Golden Penny Spaghetti is produced by Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, a food and agro-allied company in Nigeria. Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc was established in 1960, making it a longstanding player in the Nigerian food industry. The document revealed that the approval for the product expired in 2018, even though the product could be found in almost every Nigerian market.

Gino magic season tomato mix
The tomato mix is widely used for cooking various dishes in Nigerian homes. Produced by Conserveria Africana Limited in Lagos state, the company has failed to update its approval since June 2022.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/nafdac-watches-as-manufacturers-of-cway-water-golden-penny-spaghetti-others-flaunt-expired-licences/

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Our government agencies don't regulate. They react.
If nothing happens, they do nothing. If something happens, they issue statements. Shikenan!!! Na to dey collect allowances and roger naim dem sabi. Why do you think they can't defend budgets?? Why do you think it looks like the companies and products they're meant to regulate are bigger than them??