NAFDAC warns against using chemicals to enhance food, drinks

National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned Nigerians against adding chemicals and additives to food and drinks to enhance the taste as such practices could result in severe illness and even death.

Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, in a statement signed by its Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, on Sunday, said the Agency would stop at nothing to ensure that only safe food and other regulated products are available in the market for consumption and use by Nigerians.

Akintola said Adeyeye made this known while speaking against the backdrop of the recent Kano incident where three people reportedly died as a result of their consumption of dangerous chemicals used as additives while serving a flavoured drink to unsuspecting consumers in the ancient city.

Adeyeye disclosed that a preliminary result of the Agency’s investigation was submitted to the Kano State governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, during her two-day visit to the state on an on-the-spot assessment of the incident.

Adeyeye noted with regret that three fatalities were recorded with many people having their health compromised.

‘’Even if just one person died, that will be one too many. It’s heart-warming to note that all the merchants of the deadly chemicals and additives have been apprehended while further investigation continues.”

According to Adeyeye, “the importance of food cannot be over-emphasised as noted that when dangerous foreign elements find their way into our foods and water, then it becomes poisonous rather than being nutritious’.’

She pointed out that food contamination and poisoning could occur through consuming expired food.

“Food poisoning could also occur by preparing food with poorly sourced water and putting cooked food on the shelf for several days or months or in the refrigerator for too long amongst others.

‘’We are very particular about food additives, about the temperature at which food can be kept, or about the expiration date of food.

“If all of these are violated, then there could be food poisoning whether it is food or water, adding chemicals and other substances either to enhance the food or change its form can be dangerous especially when we can’t verify the source and content of such additives.”

Adeyeye also disclosed that NAFDAC is now working assiduously in partnership with the Kano State government with a view to preventing the reoccurrence of the March 11, 2021 incident.

She said that her Agency will be working with the Kano State Taskforce under the Federal Task Force on Counterfeit and Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Foods, which is domiciled in NAFDAC, and the Nigeria Consumers Protection Agency in Kano.

She explained that shortly after the news about the Kano incident was received by NAFDAC, six directorates of the Agency immediately swung into action to unravel the mystery behind the sad event.

She added that internal checks revealed that only two of the five flavoured drinks identified in the incidence were registered by NAFDAC while three were not on the Agency’s database.

She said samples of the chemicals and additives that were added while preparing the flavoured drinks for consumption were collected and taken to NAFDAC’s, laboratory in Kaduna for testing.

‘’We have five flavoured drinks. Two were registered while three were not. Any food that is unregistered are not guaranteed by NAFDAC and could be is unwholesome.

“It’s fake food. It was most likely smuggled into the country, we tested all the food samples, and there was E-Coli bacteria in some.

“One would wonder how E-Coli bacteria would get into powder.

“It depends on the storage. If it’s stored in a very humid condition and expired, the packaging probably was getting compromised, you can get bacteria into the dry powdered medium. But ordinarily, it shouldn’t happen,” She said.

Adeyeye warned the public to know that they don’t have to add chemicals to food except for table salt.

“Chemicals kill very fast because there is no prescribed amount to use adding that to use a chemical to make a food or drink sour, you may never know what you are adding.

“There is prescribed amount to put in the regulated additives as Sugar, Saccharin, and sweetening.

“Sugar, saccharin and sweetening are inside the food and not something you sprinkle on the food like what happened in Kano,” Adeyeye stated.

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