The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said it has put in place additional measures to curb the incidence of unbranded cereals and other food items of industrial sizes that enter into the open markets.
The agency explained that the unbranded products possibly sneak into the markets from the warehouses of food manufacturing companies and pose health hazards for the undiscerning consumers because of the mode of dispensing in unsanitary conditions.
At the end-of-year stakeholders’ open dialogue and feedback session with food manufacturing companies last Friday, which was aimed at rubbing minds on how to serve them better in the coming year through the review the outgoing year, NAFDAC Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye registered the concerns of the agency over the perennial problem of the ubiquity of bulk food items in the markets, possibly from the manufacturing plants or their suppliers, describing it as unacceptable.
Represented by the Director of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Mrs. Eva Edwards, the NAFDAC boss said that, going forward, the agency would be more critical with the process of issuing permits for importation of bulk food raw materials from 2024.
The Director General noted that the items enter the country because companies have applied to use them in the manufacture of their NAFDAC registered products, noting with dismay that ‘’we are concerned that we find these items being sold in measures, scoops in the open markets. So we are looking at that process of issuing permits for bulk food raw materials very critically’’.
According to Adeyeye, NAFDAC has put in place additional measures for assessing and verifying the utilisation records of each company that applies for import permits to import bulk food raw materials.
“We don’t want to just see your stock cards, we want to know what you imported in the previous year. We want to know what you used because there are some calculations that we need to make’’, she explained.
She went further to remind the manufacturers that the agency knows the ingredients that are used in their products, adding that she had the opportunity to have one-on-one discussions with some companies who sometimes requested far more than they required because of the belief that the quantities would be reduced by the agency.
The NAFDAC boss, however, emphasised that, if the companies can show records of utilisation of the quantities requested in a previous cycle, “we will check and do our calculations and if we realise that yes that company is doing business to those levels, we look at the quantity requested and grant approval’’.
She acknowledged that businesses exist to make a profit, adding that “when you are projecting for the coming year, obviously you are also thinking about doing more business. There is always some allowance for that.
“What we don’t want to see is that diversion into the open market. We don’t want people measuring milk and cereals in cups and measures in 2024. It is an unhygienic practice. It is not good for the general population in terms of food safety and hygiene’’.
Adeyeye said that NAFDAC would continue to advocate for the support of her partners and stakeholders in the quest for better, safer, healthier, more nutritious food, adding that “we all stand to benefit from this as we are all consumers”.
The Chairman of the Technical Committee of the Association of Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Employers, Mr. Fred Chiazor commended NAFDAC for its proactiveness in responding to developments in the industry.
He said that “FSAN as a Directorate sees the stakeholders as partners and not as criminals. It is a Directorate that wants improvement, and this is a win-win. We are happy that you are doing what you should be doing to grow the industries”.
He said that NAFDAC and the stakeholders would continue to partner to find areas of better collaboration and improvement in the coming year.
The over 50 food manufacturing companies at the forum included Nestle Nigeria Plc, Ajinomoto Foods Nigeria Limited, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, Coca Cola Nigeria Plc, Nigeria Bottling Company Plc, Guinness Nigeria Plc, OK Foods, Cadbury Nigeria Limited, CHI Limited, UAC and NB Plc.
