Enakhire, Ogbe advocate food safety in Nigeria

The Minister of State for Health, Osagie Enakhire and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbe, on Thursday advocated for food safety in Nigeria.

The ministers spoke made this known during the inter-ministerial committee meeting on food safety in Nigeria, held in Abuja.

The committee which comprised of major stakeholders was to work on a document on food security that would be presented to the Federal Executive Council (FEC), for adoption and subsequently to be forwarded as a Bill to the National Assembly.

The Minister of State for Health expressed worry about concealed food which according to him, was dangerous to health.

He expressed the need to ensure quality production of food which will help efficient food trade that will boost the economy.

Enakhire urged Nigerians to be careful on their excess in-take of sugar and salt, which he said also contribute in detoriorating the health system of an individual.

On his part, Ogbe challenged Nigerians to question the food they eat so as to ascertain its quality and safety.

“It is time to start questioning what we eat and its safety. We should also look at who we buy the food from so as to know whether what we are eating is safe or not,” he said.

He regretted that some food produce from the country were rejected in the international market and called for the need to ensure food standard.

“We are checking the nature of fertilizer, soil and the chemicals we use and begin to ask relevant questions. Our findings have shown that some of the pests we use are dangerous for crops. So we must begin to understand all these so as to ask the relevant questions that are useful for food safety in the country,” he added.