Author: Lawal AbdulSalam Olawale

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said on Tuesday that Noodles made in Nigeria have nothing to do with the noodles produced in Taiwan and Malaysia. The regulator also said that noodles made in Nigeria are safe for consumption.

Speaking as a guest on a popular TV show, Your View, aired on TVC television, Director-General, NAFDAC, Mojisola Adeyeye, further added that “foreign noodles have been banned from entering the country by the Nigerian government many years ago and this is on the Nigerian Customs Service importation prohibition list and this is to encourage local production of noodles and backward integration of the economy.”

NAFDAC also said it is working to ensure that foreign-made noodles are not smuggled into the country. NAFDAC Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FSAN) organisation, has commenced post-marketing surveillance (PMS) and the Food Lab Services Directorate has also been activated on the issue.

 

According to the Group Corporate Communications and Event Manager, Dufil Prima Foods Plc, Tope Ashiwaju, said “Indomie Nigeria is different and a separate entity from Indomie Taiwan, and Indomie Malaysia. Indomie instant Noodles is locally produced in the country and operations have been ongoing for at least three decades. Dufil Prima has improved local capacity utilisation and has aided enhanced production to meet market demand, rather than depending on importation.”

Nigeria is a major consumer of instant noodles, with Indomie Instant Noodles dominating the market. The World Instant Noodles Association (WINA) said Nigeria is one of the largest consumers of instant noodles, with 1.92 million. The ban on the importation of instant noodles is not a recent development, as instant noodles have been on the importation prohibition list of the Federal Government for a long time.

The Office of the National Security Adviser on Wednesday entered into a partnership with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control to curb the use of illicit drugs across the country.

 

According to a statement by the Director, Strategic Communications, ONSA, Ozoya Imohimi, the National Coordinator, National Counter Terrorism Centre, ONSA, Rear Admiral Yaminu Musa (retd.), said the use of illicit drug was “fueling insecurity” in the country.

 

The statement read in part, “Drug is one of those foods fueling insecurity in Nigeria and the need to strengthen collaborations among relevant government’s Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, particularly, NAFDAC, to tackle this menace, must be sustained for a safe and resilient society.”

 

NAFDAC’s Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, called on all Nigerians to expose those selling illicit drugs, adding that the future of many young people had been destroyed using drugs.

 

She promised that her agency’s continued collaboration with the NCTC in the ONSA would lead to more positive outcomes for the benefit Nigeria

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, sealed a shop in Zuba, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory, on Thursday for allegedly selling unapproved aphrodisiacs to Nigerians.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some of the aphrodisiacs are Garin Yansun, Sabon Mai-Siket, Ruwan Jaraba, Tunkude, Fenugreek powder, and Al-Khausara herbal syrup.

 

Bubuchiki Godiya, a member of the Federal Taskforce, Investigation, and Enforcement Directorate of NAFDAC, said that “the agency received intel that Yunusa Adamu was manufacturing unregistered herbal preparation.

 

Godiya said that the agency sent some of its team members to investigate, and on arrival, they found that there were many unregistered herbal drugs.

 

According to him, even though Adamu gave the invoice for some of the products to the team, he still denied producing any drugs.

 

We will investigate for more evidence; the shop has more than 15 different varieties of products. Many of them have pornographic pictures, which are not acceptable, and the agency cannot register a drug or any product with pornographic pictures.

 

“The drugs are all over the shop; that is why we have evacuated as much as we can, and we are still going to seal the place until we conclude our investigation. We will go with the suspect in order to record his statement and investigate more to know our next line of action,” Godiya said.

 

He said that the agency’s standard of procedure would be to investigate the suspect.

 

Samples would be taken to the laboratory for analysis, and with the result, the agency would know the way forward, he said.

 

On his part, Adamu told NAN that he bought the drugs from Kano and Kaduna markets and that he had been in business for a very long time, saying that “it is what people know me for.”

 

He said that his chairman, who was not available, would bring the necessary documents to the agency

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has appealed to the public to desist from the use of dangerous herbal preparations being sold in open places across the country.

 

This came as the agency assured that it was doing everything to ensure that only safe and efficacious medicine, wholesome food, and quality-regulated products are sold and used by Nigerians.

Speaking at a press conference, Monday, in Abuja, NAFDAC Director General,Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, solicited the support of health practitioners, community leaders, religious leaders, the press, and all stakeholders to continue to educate their wards and family members to desist from patronizing quacks and hawkers of medicines on the street.

The event was held by the agency to brief the media on the arrest of one Alhaji Salisu Sani, a herbal medicine practitioner, otherwise known as Baban Aisha, for manufacturing herbal medicine with expired registration licence and illegal advertisement and sale of Sacra Herbs Oral Liquid.

 

She said Alhaji Sani was arrested when the agency recently received reports and concerns on Sacra Herbs oral liquid, popularly called Baban Aisha, following a media investigative report.

 

Prof. Adeyeye,who said her agency had commenced a nationwide mop-up of the Sacra Herbs in circulation, added:”We have also intensified crack down on all illegal manufacturers and distributors of herbal preparation and other unregistered preparations, with a view to bringing the perpetrators to book and minimize the usage of the substance.”

 

“I would like to appeal to all, particularly the vulnerable group to desist from the use of this dangerous herbal preparation. Be assured that NAFDAC is doing everything to ensure that only safe and efficacious medicine, wholesome food, and quality regulated products are sold and used by Nigerians.

 

“I want to assure Nigerians that NAFDAC is doing everything to ensure that only safe medicine and wholesome food of the right quality are sold to our citizenry. I would also like to use this opportunity to solicit for the support of health practitioners, community leaders, religious leaders, the press, and all stakeholders to continue to educate their wards and family members to desist from patronizing quacks and hawkers of medicines on the street. Let me also use the medium to thank the gentlemen and ladies of the press and civil societies for their support to NAFDAC in this regard

We further advise consumers of NAFDAC regulated products to be watchful of drug, food, and other regulated products they purchase and should not hesitate to report any suspicious activities within their environment to the nearest NAFDAC office,”she said.

 

She recalled that”NAFDAC was established by Act Cap N1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2014 to regulate and control the manufacture, importation, exportation, advertisement, distribution, sale and use of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devises, bottled water, detergent, and chemicals (referred to as regulated products).”

 

Throwing mor light on the operations of the herbal medicine company,Prof. Adeyeye said:”

In 2018 the Agency received an application from Sacra Multi-Links Ltd, Layin Alhaji Hamza Mai Bread, Tafa Kagarko LGA, Kaduna State for the registration of its product Sacra Herbs oral liquid. Following regulatory protocols, the Agency granted listing approval with NAFDAC registration number A7-2590L for the Sacra Herbs oral liquid for the purpose of management of pile and associated pains. The notification of the registration of the product was granted on the 6th September, 2018 valid till 12th September, 2019.

 

“The company on the 12th August, 2020 applied for renewal of its licence. Following regulatory audit of the company’s production facility, compliance directives were issued to them for non-conformers observed in the facility for which the company was expected to correct. The company, however, did not correct the lapses observed, following which the product registration licence was not renewed.

 

“The agency also did not receive any application for advertisement of the Sacra herb to warrant the illegal advertisement of the herbal preparation. It is worthy of note that the Sacra herb which licence expired in 2019 was approved for the management of pile and associated pains, while the company went beyond bound prescribing the medicines for unfounded indications such as for the treatment of Waist pains, Typhoid, Ulcer, Pile, Toilet infection etc.

Following the viral social media outburst on the nefarious activities of Sacra Multi Links, the Investigation and Enforcement Directorate of NAFDAC carried out surveillance followed by enforcement action leading to the sealing of the factory and the arrest of two staff of the company who were complicit in the criminal act.

 

“The following day the Managing Director of Sacra Multi Links, Alh. Salisu Sani reported to I&E office in Kaduna and when his vehicle was searched, the following herbal drugs were evacuated from the vehicle: Sacra Herbs oral liquid and two additional unregistered herbal preparations namely Baban Aisha Man Power & Delay and Cure Powder Kai Kadai Gayya. All the products found with the managing Director and those found in the company were sent to NAFDAC laboratory for analysis. “

 

Speaking further on actions carried out recently as it relates to illegal manufacture, importation, advertisement, and sale of unregistered herbal drugs,the NAFDAC nose said:”The Investigation and Enforcement Directorate of the Agency recently clamped down on some distributors of some herbal medicines- Hajia Ayisha Special Snuff AK 47. This was a result of intelligence report received by NAFDAC that these herbal medicines are mainly in the Northern part of Nigeria.

 

” Findings revealed that the herbal snuff were manufactured in Ghana and was approved for use as an analgesic by the Food and Drug Authority (FDA) of Ghana. But is being wrongly packaged and passed-off as a snuff for the Nigerian market.

 

: Investigation further revealed an alarming trend in the use of these poisonous preparations by wide section of the populace, cutting across all genders and age groups, including young boys and girls, men and married women, drivers and ar

tisans.

The snuff, popularly called “SHAKE” or “ANGORO” herbal powder comes under different street names, such as: AK 47, Moringa, Black coffee (Dan Kano), Magic powder, Lufthansa, Desert Warrior, etc.”

 

Some of the products mopped up from circulation during raid by NAFDAC, according to Adeyeye, included:” Hajia Ayisha special snuff AK 47, Hajia Ayisha snuff AK 47, Hajia Ayisha Masanda original powerful powder, Hajia Ayisha snuff Nasrullah snuff No. 1, Hajia Salma Special snuff, Lufthansa Man power snuff, 99 Bullet more power snuff, AK 47 Power snuff, Hajia Salma VIP Moringa, Forever Journey, Dr Lambo Moringa snuff, Danmilla Kokoo herbal powder, The Desert Warrior, Hajia Salma sundu. The products are abused for various reasons, including, to create pleasure, to get into ecstacy, increased libido etc.”

 

“The chemical substance in these deadly products of abuse is pyridine which belongs a class of toxic alkaloids found in some plants of the Nicotiana species, which include the tobacco plant. It can be highly addictive, and it is associated with a range of serious health consequences, including increased risk of cancer, respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, etc,”she said.

 

She said the successful investigation on Sacra herbs (Baban Aisha), Hajiya Aisha special snuff AK 47 and other herbal medicines “goes to drive home the fact that eradication of fake and counterfeit drugs, adulterated and unwholesome processed foods and other regulated products is a holistic battle which should involve every well-meaning Niger

ian.”

 

 

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC)

says it has started a nationwide mop-up of unregistered herbal medicines.

The Director-General of the agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja on Monday.

She said that the action followed a recent discovery of sale of uncertified, unregistered herbal medicines

by Dr Salisu Sani Nawagini, popularky knwon as Baban Aisha, and others.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the agency had on Wednesday, June 14, raided and sealed

the production factory of Baban Aisha at Tarf, on Abuja-Kaduna road.

NAN also reports that during the raid, a lot of items, including production equipment and raw materials were

seized at the production factory of Baban Aisha by NAFDAC, where a woman who stood in for him (Baban Aisha) was arrested.

Adeyeye, therefore, said the agency’s nationwide crackdown is on herbal medicines, especially those not registered with NAFDAC.

She said that Baban Aisha had in 2018 received an application from Sacra Multi-Links Ltd for the registration of Sacra

Herb oral liquid for the treatment of pile and associated pains.

The NAFDAC boss said that the registration approval for the product expired on Sept. 12, 2019, which made Baban Aisha

to apply for renewal on Aug. 12, 2020 following regulatory audit of the company’s production facility.

She added that after this, compliance directives were issued to the company for non conformers observed in the facility

as at the time of visit for which the company was expected to correct.

Adeyeye said that the company however did not correct the lapses observed, Sacra Herb registration licence was not renewed,

the agency did not also receive any application for advertisement of the medicine.

She said that instead renewal of registration of the product, the company went beyond bound prescription for the medicine

to convince Nigerians that it can also treat waist pains, typhoid, ulcer, toilet infection and others.

The director-general said that social media outburst on the nefarious activities of Sacra Multi Links prompted the

investigation and enforcement directorate of the agency to carry out surveillance and enforcement action which led

to sealing of the factory.

She appealed to Nigerians, particularly the vulnerable group, to desist from the use of dangerous herbal preparations.

She reiterated NAFDAC’s determination to ensure that only safe and efficacious medicines, wholesome foods and

quality regulated products are sold and used by Nigerians.

Adeyeye solicited the support of health practitioners, community and religious leaders, the press and other

stakeholder to continue to educate their wards and family members to desist from patronising quacks and

hawkers of medicine on the streets.

President Bola Tinubu has exempted the Boards of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency NDLEA as well as the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control NAFDAC from his order dissolving boards of federal government parastatals, agencies and institutions.Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, Senator George Akume disclosed this in a statement issued Tuesday night in Abuja.

 

“Further to the directive on the dissolution of Boards of Federal Government Parastatals, Agencies, Institutions and Government-owned Companies, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation has clarified that the Boards of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration & Control (NAFDAC) are exempted from such dissolution”, Akume said

Tinubu had on Monday night dissolved the Governing Boards of all Federal Government Parastatals, Agencies, Institutions, and Government-Owned Companies

said the action was in exercise of the president’s “Constitutional Powers and in the Public interest”.

 

He said the dissolution does not, however, affect Boards, Commissions and Councils listed in the Third Schedule, Part 1, Section 153 (i) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, on Thursday in Lagos made public its findings on the investigation into the presence of ethylene oxide or its metabolite in noodles and their seasonings, saying all noodles in Nigeria are safe.

 

The Director General of NAFDAC, Prof Christianah Adeyeye who briefed journalists in Lagos said ethylene oxide or its derivative was not found in any of the instant noodles produced in Nigeria and their seasonings.

“The level of Mycotoxin and the heavy metals were within the internationally acceptable limit. Therefore, the noodles made in Nigeria are very safe to eat. “

NAFDAC investigation was occasioned by the recalls of Indomie Instant Noodles ‘Special Chicken Flavour’ by the Ministries of Health in Malaysia and Taiwan on account of the alleged presence of ethylene oxide, a compound associated with an increased risk of cancer.

Adeyeye said:  “Samples of chicken flavoured instant noodles of various brands and the seasonings were drawn from the production facilities across the country.

“This was to ensure that the investigation was robust, covering other instant noodles brands manufactured in Nigeria, besides Indomie, the implicated brand.

“The Post Marketing Surveillance Division also visited markets/retail outlets in the major cities of Lagos, Abuja, and Kano and drew samples of instant noodles for laboratory analysis.

“The market visits served as surveillance for the presence of the Taiwan and Malaysian special chicken noodles in the Nigerian market.

The samples drawn from production facilities and trade were properly packaged and delivered in good condition to our Central Laboratory, Oshodi, Lagos, where analytical activities commenced immediately in accordance with international standards and methods of analysis.”

Adeyeye said NAFDAC deployed the technique using Gas Chromatography with Mass Spectrometry detector and a total of 114 samples of instant noodles and the seasonings were received.

 

She explained that the compound of interest, ethylene oxide, is a colourless, odourless gas that is used to sterilise medical devices and has been implicated as a cancer-causing chemical.

 

She said: “We did not only analyze for ethylene oxide and its derivative 2-chloroethanol in the noodles and seasonings; we also analyzed for other contaminants such as mycotoxins and heavy metals in the samples.”

 

On the delay in the analytical activities in the laboratory’ she said it was not deliberate as they had to place orders for the procurement and supply of certified reference materials (standards), reagents and chemicals from overseas

.

 

 

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has alerted Nigerians to a batch of unwholesome Sprite 50cl glass bottles circulating in Nigeria.

 

NAFDAC said the product was discovered following a consumer complaint received and investigated by the post-marketing surveillance unit of the agency.

 

The agency said the investigation revealed that over five crates of the implicated batch of Sprite 50cl glass bottles were discovered to be contaminated with particles.

 

“The affected batch of the unwholesome product has been sampled for laboratory analysis in the NAFDAC laboratory and the Agency has directed all zonal directors and state coordinators to carry out surveillance and mop up the implicated batch of the unwholesome produ

ct.

Similarly, a comprehensive current Good Manufacturing Practice Inspection of the manufacturing site is to be carried out by the Agency, this is to find the route cause of the contamination and ensure compliance to marketing authorisation.

It added that the product was manufactured on April 4, 2023.

 

“NAFDAC implores distributors, retailers, and consumers to exercise caution and vigilance to avoid the consumption, sale, or distribution of the unwholesome product. The products’ authenticity and physical condition should be carefully checked.

 

“Anyone in possession of the above-mentioned batch of Sprite 50cl glass bottles is advised to submit stock to the nearest NAFDAC office. If you, or someone you know, have consumed this product or suffered any adverse reaction/event after consumption, you are advised to seek immediate medical advice from a qualified healthcare professional,” it added.

 

 

 

Flowerbudnews

 

Abuja:  The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, on Monday dismissed a social media video that claimed semovita contains plastic materials.

In press statement, the Agency said a scientific analysis of the semovita content revealed that it does not contain plastic materials.

According to the statement signed by the Director General of NAFDAC, Prof Christinah Adeyeye, the attention of NAFDAC has been drawn to a social media video showing a woman washing Golden Penny Semovita in a sieve using cold water. The woman claimed that the residue she got after sieving was plastic.

“A similar video was shown in 2020 and that led to a Press Release similar to this. Upon receiving the alerts from various quarters in the community in 2020, the Director General immediately gave a directive to conduct emergency post-marketing analysis using different brands of Semolina.”

Continuing, Adeyeye said the Agency investigated the claim by conducting appropriate analytical testing in her internationally accredited laboratories.

“The results showed that there were no plastic or any similar harmful contaminants in Golden Penny Semovita.

 

“It contained the expected components plus the required Vitamin A. NAFDAC, therefore, wishes to inform the general public that the claim in the social media video assertions is misleading.

 

“The alleged Golden Penny Semovita is a brand of semolina, a very popular flour made from wheat and consumed in several parts of the world. Semolina contains mainly water, carbohydrates and about 13 per cent of gluten-forming proteins.

“Gluten is made up of two classes of proteins – glutenin and gliadin, which upon addition of water combine to form gluten, a protein that gives nutritive value and imparts other characteristic properties to the product. Glutenin normally gives a bread dough the ability to rise during baking while gliadin gives it the viscous and elastic (viscoelastic) properties, or it simply makes it extensible and elastic.

This latter property is the rubbery/plastic-like appearance that was exhibited in the said video. Semolina has no plastic content in it; it only exhibits viscous and elastic properties. The rubbery-like material that was observed in the video after many washing with water is the gluten that formed after the gluten-forming proteins get mixed with water.

Golden Penny Semovita is manufactured by Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc., a registered company which has been granted marketing authorization by NAFDAC to manufacture the product and offer it for sale in Nigeria.

The company’s operations were certified by NAFDAC after meeting the requirements of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and the relevant Nigerian Industrial Standards (NIS).

NAFDAC boss reassured Nigerians that the Golden Penny Semovita and all other semolina products registered by the Agency were safe for human consumption having been so approved by the Agency, following science-driven regulatory diligence.

“There is no cause for apprehension by consumers as such approved products are manufactured in line with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and in compliance with the Nigerian Industrial Standards, which is continuously monitored by NAFDAC,” she added.

She urged Nigerians to exercise discretion in the use of social media to address any suspicion they may have on regulated products as resorting to social media has the tendency to cause fear and panic. (Flowerbudnews)