NAFDAC’s alarm on substandard packaged water

RECENTLY, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) threatened to shut down packaged water production facilities that failed the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) requirements. It also pledged to collaborate with various associations to sanitise the packaged water sector of the economy. The Director-General of NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, who made this declaration at the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja while speaking with 412 packaged water producers, expressed dismay at the fact that shortly after procuring registration approval, many of the over 16,000 registered producers of packaged water across the country lowered their standards and produced water under poor conditions, putting public at health at risk.

Adeyeye said: “We all know that the situation in Nigeria today is such that the entire Nigerian populace, including the healthy, elderly, pregnant women, children and the weak with low immunity, depend on packaged water for sustenance, as many believe falsely or rightly that the municipal water, where available, may hardly be safe for drinking. You are in the noble business of providing Nigerians with safe drinking water, but if you engage in activities that fall short of standards and regulatory requirements, you may be responsible for the illness and even death of innocent Nigerians.” Packaged water, she insisted, must meet the requirements of NAFDAC and industrial standards for packaged water, noting that the agency would intensify its routine monitoring to ensure consistent compliance on GMP and other requirements, and apply appropriate sanctions on defaulters and violators.

To be sure, NAFDAC has regularly handed down warnings to producer. For instance, in September 2018 , the NAFDAC Director General cautioned stakeholders to desist from the manufacturing, distribution and sale of unregistered products that could harm people, threatening greater punishment for distributors of unregistered products. According to her, in an era of globalisation where regulatory agencies around the world strived to strike a balance between quality and safeguarding the health of their populations, NAFDAC had had to deal with threats to food safety and unwholesome pharmaceutical products in the interest of public health. “NAFDAC’s return to the ports has restored the agency’s key responsibility of regulating and controlling the importation of regulated products. The agency has remained undaunted in its efforts to reduce the incidence of substandard and fake products, as well as smuggling and abuse of various products. Our vulnerability as a people, fuelled by several social factors, has been exploited and as an agency, we remain focused in our effort to address the issues and have put in place better inspection plans with stricter regulatory measures,” she had said, charging producers of food items such as vegetable oils, salt, sugar, beans and flour to ensure that the specified levels of fortification in the Nigeria Industrial Standards were achieved and maintained in all products.

To say the least, NAFDAC’s warning is timely and necessary. It is indeed a fact that many Nigerians depend on packaged water for drinking. This is not just because municipal water is assumed to be generally unsafe but because it is hardly ever available. As we have said time and again, the various ministries of Water Resources across the states have long abandoned the duty of providing water for the populace, leading to the ugly situation where water is virtually everywhere but there is none to drink. Millions of Nigerians rely on water from largely untreated holes and deep wells dug by individuals or organisations. Public tap water is in short supply across the country. As a matter of fact, there is a new generation of Nigerian youths who do not know anything about public tap water, having never seen one. This is, to say the very least, unfortunate. Sadly, officials of water-related departments focus on issuing regulations on the construction of boreholes and are often at loggerheads with stakeholders in that sector.

For a long time, the health authorities have drawn attention to the dangers inherent in the consumption of most of the packaged water produced across the country and NAFDAC, in particular, has conducted countless raids, apprehended the producers of unsafe water, and sealed off their outfits. However, the production of packaged water in violation of industrial standards remains a major challenge, in part due to the relatively high cost of doing business which has led investors into cutting corners. In a very significant sense, therefore, Nigerians are at the mercy of the government and the regulatory agencies. Weak purchasing power encourages people to patronise substandard products regardless of the inherent health implications. This explains why, time and again, there have been outbreaks of water-borne diseases across the country. Still, having identified the problems associated with packaged water production, NAFDAC holds the key to solving them. Packaged water companies would not lower their standards if they know what they stand a high risk of being blacklisted by the agency and taken out of business. After issuing licenses to producers, NAFDAC must ensure regular monitoring. It must not go to bed, believing that the producers would comply with the extant regulations.

NAFDAC has a duty to identify the violators and treat them in accordance with the extant rules. In addition, we expect the federal and state health authorities to take more than a passing interest in the matter as a way of safeguarding public health. A government that cannot produce water for the people to drink should at least ensure that the water sold to the people by private concerns is fit for purpose.

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