Category: Features

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)

Flowerbudnews

By Biola Lawal

Abuja: (Flowerbudnews): The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has Intensified efforts to help boost Nigeria’s non-oil export trade and eliminate rejection of the nation’s food products exports.

Speaking at a consultative meeting with Pre-shipment Inspection Agents on Friday, NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye expressed the Agencys discomfort with the alarming rate of rejections of food exports from Nigeria.

Prof Adeyeye emphasised the need for a unified exportation procedure in collaboration with Pre-Shipment Inspection Agents to revamp the non-oil Sector trade and end rejection of Nigeria’s food exports in foreign countries.

A statement by Sayo Akintola, NAFDAC’s  Residentn  Media Consultant said that the Consultative meeting was in continuation of NAFDAC efforts to find lasting solutions to the problem of Nigeria non-oil export rejects abroad.

The statement disclosed that NAFFAC used the forum to further extended hands of collaboration to critical stakeholders in the nations ports with a view to working together to revamp the export trade in the non-oil sector, and reduce the rejection of Nigerian products thereby positioning the country in a better state in the Global market.

NAFDAC Boss, Prof. Adeyeye also expressed the Agencys discomfort with the alarming rate of rejections of food exports from Nigeria.

She was represented at the Consultative meeting by  Dr Abimbola Adegboye, the Director, Port Inspection Directorate (PID who also heads Office of Trade and International Relations (OTIR),

Prof Adeyeye pointed out that the meeting was aimed at building effective collaboration with NAFDAC to complement its robust regulatory policies geared toward understanding the NAFDAC export processes.

She said collaboration was also to safeguard a unified exportation procedure and zero rejects of Nigeria export products.

The NAFDAC Boss expressed dismay that a competent authority on food safety matter with all her acclaimed global accreditation in food safety testing could be totally blanked out in the listed requirements for issuance of Clean Certificate of Inspection (CCI) by the Pre-shipment Inspection Agents.

”No wonder there are high volumes of reject from Nigeria as the NAFDAC regulated products were not tested nor production processes validated for compliance before export”,she noted.

Present at the meeting were the top management staff of Neroli Technologies Limited, the agent covering South-south and South-west zone; Anglia International Services Limited, the agent covering North-West and North-Central zone and Gojopal Nigeria Limited, the PIA covering North-East and South-East zone.

They all made commitments to immediate rectification of this lapse on their website and their process and enlightening their client to use the Nigeria Single Window for Trade portal (www.swt.gov.ng)to procure their exports certification.

NAFDAC as a Governmental Agency was established by Enabling Act Cap N1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2004 which empowers the Agency as the competent authority in Nigeria and charged with the responsibility of regulating and controlling the quality of manufactured, importation, exportation, distribution, advertisement, sale, and consumption of food, drug, chemicals, and other regulated products.

Essentially, the NAFDAC mandate is to ensure traded products are of good quality, safe and wholesome.

The Port Inspection Directorate of the Agency has met with the Chairman of Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS) and Nigeria Export Supervision Scheme NESS, Area Comptroller of Nigeria Customs Services at the Ports, advocacy visits were made to export sheds at seaports, airports, and land boarders.

She however, expressed her appreciation of the activities of PIAs as a main actor in the processes chain of exportation adding that coming together of the critical stakeholders will help make the trade of non-oil sector to be better, more robust and more consultative.

NAFDACs door is opened to enhance export and trade, we encourage and support trade of quality products, she said, adding that ”we are enjoining the PIAs to be part of the game and to make sure we collaborate effectively.”

The NAFDAC boss noted that the Agency acknowledges the importance of having broader and deeper Interactions and collaborations with sister agencies such as Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Nigeria Custom Service (NCS) etc.

Prof Adeyeye emphasized the position of export as a major aspect of building every country’s economy because of its importance in international trade and economic stability, therefore the reason for regulation of the sector is to ensure that products that leave a countrys shores are of good quality, safe and meet international best practices among others.

For Nigeria, she said trade is critical to the national economic makeup, adding that in 2021, Nigeria exported $57.7 billion of goods, making it the world’s 52nd most exporting country.

Prof. Adeyeye disclosed that Cocoa beans, sesame seeds, cashew and seven other products top the list of agricultural commodities Nigeria exported within the first nine (9) months of 2022, generating N427.6 billion or $1.02billion.

The DG reiterated that huge volume of Nigerias exported agricultural commodities were often rejected by the European Union for not meeting required standards, adding that EU countries seized about 82% of Nigeria’s agricultural products exported illegally.

According to her, these products are non-documented items and people move them out without clearance by the relevant regulatory agency.

The DG NAFDAC listed the following as reasons for export rejects: Technical Barrier issues e.g., defective packaging and inadequate labelling. Non-Documentation, Unauthorised transition,

Illegal importation, Non-compliance to destination markets standards, the EU will reject consignments containing food that do not comply with EU maximum residue limits (MRLs) for Vet Medicine and Pesticides, and maximum limits (MLs) for Contaminants in foods.

Others include exporters boycott of relevant regulatory Agency e.g., NAFDAC, in the process of exportation, which leads to rejects, private huge losses and absence of government-to-government communications.

Prof. Adeyeye however maintained that tightening the regulatory and inspection regime for exports of food items and agricultural products is one of the ways to address export rejections, adding that all relevant Government Agencies and associations involved in Nigerian exports should ensure agro products exported are safe, of good quality and meet the specified International Standards.

When all other relevant efforts are merged, we can achieve the reduction of reject on Nigerian export food commodities and increase foreign exchange earnings, she said. (Flowerbudnews)

By Aderogba George

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

has reached out to pre-shipment inspection agents at Nigerian ports on the need for them to collaborate with a view to ensuring that export-bound foods are not rejected abroad.

The collaboration move was contained in a statement signed by the Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye and issued on Sunday by the agency’s Media Consultant, Mr Olusayo Akintola.

The statement said that Adeyeye reached out to the pre-shipment agents at a consultative meeting held on Friday.

According to the statement, Adeyeye was represented at the meeting by Dr Abimbola Adegboye, Director, Port Inspection Directorate (PID), NAFDAC) and the Head, Office of Trade and International Relations (OTIR).

Adeyeye said the collaboration was in continuation of the search for a lasting solution to the problem of Nigerian non-oil exports which were being rejected abroad.

She said that the collaboration would revamp the export trade in the non-oil sector and reposition Nigeria in the global market.

The NAFDAC boss expressed the agency’s discomfort at the alarming rate at which Nigerian food exports were being rejected abroad.

She said the meeting was aimed at building effective collaboration with NAFDAC to complement its robust regulatory policies geared towards understanding the NAFDAC export processes.

Adeyeye said that the collaboration was also to safeguard a unified exportation procedure and zero rejection of Nigeria’s export products.

She lamented that NAFDAC, which she described as the competent authority on food safety matter with global accreditation in food safety testing, could be left out in the list of organisations whose inputs were required before Clean Certificate of Inspection (CCI) is issued by Pre-shipment Inspection Agents.

She said that there was high volume of rejection of Nigerian food products abroad because NAFDAC was not involved in the screening such products prior to their exportation.

“NAFDAC as a governmental agency was established by enabling Act Cap N1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2004 which empowers the agency as the competent authority in Nigeria,“ she pointed out.

According to Adeyeye, the agency is charged with the responsibility of regulating and controlling the quality of manufactured food products, their importation, exportation, distribution, advertisement, sale, and consumption .

“Essentially, NAFDAC is mandated is to ensure that traded products are of good quality, safe and wholesome,“ she pointed out.

The NAFDAC director general said that the Port Inspection Directorate of the agency had met with the Chairman of Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS).

“The directorate has also met with the Nigeria Export Supervision Scheme (NESS), Area Comptroller of the Nigeria Customs Services at the Ports, advocacy visits were made to export sheds at the seaports, airports and land boarders,” she said.

She, however, expressed her appreciation in respect of the activities of PIAs, the main actors in the export processing chain.

She said that the coming together of critical stakeholders would enhance the non-oil sector, making it better and more robust.

According

to her, NAFDAC seeks to enhance export trade encouraging and supporting trade in quality products.

She assured PIAs and other sister agencies, including Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and the Nigeria Custom Service (NCS) of quality collaboration.

Adeyeye disclosed that cocoa beans, sesame seeds, cashew and seven other products topped the list of agricultural commodities Nigeria exported in the first nine months of 2022, generating N427.6 billion or $1.02 billion.

She disclosed that the European Union (EU) would reject consignments containing foods that did not comply with EU maximum residue limits for veterinary medicine and pesticides and maximum limits (MLs) for contaminants in foods.

Adeyeye, however, maintained that tightening the regulatory and inspection regime for exports of food items and agricultural products was one of the ways to address export rejections.

According to her, all relevant government agencies and associations involved in Nigeria’s exports must ensure that agro products meet specified international standards, are safe and are of good quality.

NAN

Flowerbudnews

By Biola Lawal

Abuja:  (Flowerbudnews)  The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is set to hold Media Sensitisation Workshop in Abuja to further Enlighten Nigerians on Dangers of Drug Hawking and Ripening of Fruits with Carbide

Flowerbudnews reports that the one-day event  sensitisation is the flag-off of NAFDAC Media Sensitization Workshop being organized for Nigeria Health Journalists in Abuja.

An invitation circulated for the event disclosed that the sensitisation workshop is holding with the theme: “The DANGERS OF DRUG HAWKING AND RIPENING OF FRUITS WITH CALCIUM CARBIDE”

The sensitisation workshop holds tomorrow, Tuesday 11th July, 2023 at Merit House, Maitama, Abuja, starting at 8.30am.

Flowerbudnews learnt that the event was part of the NAFDAC Director General, Prof Moji Adeyeye’s resolve to carry the media along in the Agency’s efforts to tackle the multi-various problems bedevilling the nation’s drug and food sector.

NAFDAC restated the Director-General’s unalloyed support to the Fourth Estate of the realm. (Flowerbudnews)

The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye said consumption of fruits ripened with calcium carbide may cause cancer, heart failure, kidney failure, and liver failure.

Prof Adeyeye also said fruits ripened with calcium carbide may cause frequent thirst, irritation in the mouth and nose, weakness, permanent skin damage, difficulty in swallowing, vomiting, and skin ulcer.

Adeyeye stated this on Tuesday at the official flag-off of the agency’s media sensitisation workshop on the dangers of drug hawking and ripening of fruits with calcium carbides.

She said the ripening of fruits with carbide is a public challenge and the agency has deployed a multifaceted approach to tackle the menace.

Fruits provide the body with micronutrients that improve immunity and prevent diseases among other benefits. Fruit ripening is a unique aspect of plant development, which makes the fruit edible, softer, sweeter, more palatable, nutritious, and attractive.

“However, the consumption of fruits such as mango, banana, plantain, guava, orange, grape, etc, or any other fruits ripened with calcium carbide is dangerous to health.

“Fruits artificially ripened with calcium carbide may be ripe on the skin, but the inside remains unripe. You can identify such artificially ripened fruits if you notice that the fruits are all yellow whereas the stem is dark, this is true, especially with bananas and plantains. In addition, naturally ripened fruits usually have brown or black spots, while those artificially ripened have traces of powdery substances and peel off quickly,” she said.