From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has confirmed that Indomie and other noodle brands in Nigeria are safe for consumption.
The Agency insisted that recent investigations by the Agency on the safety of the products revealed that Indomie noodles implicated in the recalls in Malaysia and Taiwan, were not in Nigeria.
A statement from NAFDAC on Thursday indicated that Director General o NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, made the confirmation during the quarterly interactive session between the Agency and the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), in Lagos.
She confirmed that samples of the noodles and seasonings (spices), were collected by the Agency from different locations for laboratory analysis and the results returned good for human consumption.
She said: “I love to eat good food, including noodles. But I want to be sure that the food I am eating is not going to make me sick, take medicine. And if I am taking medicine the food that I am eating will not make me to add to the medicine that I am taking. Therefore, I take food very, very seriously.”
She stressed that the Agency was highly sensitive in terms of food safety, adding that “we have to make sure that we do the right thing, regulatory-wise”, reiterating that NAFDAC officials went around and took samples from the markets of the products for laboratory tests.
The NAFDAC boss emphasized that the Agency did not ban the importation of Indomie during the recent Taiwan and Malaysia episode where many people died after consuming Indomie Noodles, stressing that Noodles generally had been banned by the Federal Government many years before she became DG NAFDAC in order to protect the local manufacturing sector.
She, however, insisted that the implicated foreign noodles are not in Nigeria, hence, the locally produced noodles are safe for human consumption. “We are improving on what will make our people healthier. Whatever we put into our food will affect us, whether positively or otherwise’’.
The Director General of MAN, Mr Segun Ajayi Quadri, in his remarks, appreciated NAFDAC and its officials and assured of support and collaboration for the overall development of Nigeria’s economy and the wellbeing of its citizens.