The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has issued a warning to bakeries across Nigeria, advising them against the use of saccharin and bromate in bread production. The Director-General of the agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, made the warning during her appearance on a News Forum.
She emphasized that bakeries caught using these substances would face severe consequences. “This is where our post-marketing surveillance comes in. We go out routinely to look for certain products; sometimes it may be due to complaints through our reform office,” Prof. Adeyeye said.
She highlighted that NAFDAC has already taken action against bakeries found using bromate in bread production. “We have closed down a few bakeries because they are using bromate during bread production. If we find out, or someone suspected or tasted the bread and it has bromate, we will shut the bakery down,” she stated.
Prof. Adeyeye also mentioned that NAFDAC has closed several water production factories due to substandard production or unhygienic conditions. “Our Regulatory Inspection Directorate is important to us because it ensures that what is brought to us at the point of registration is what is still in the market. When we do inspection at the beginning, we go there and take samples and test the product,” she explained.
She further noted that some businesses, after their products are registered, might alter their production processes or formulas. “Sometimes after they know that the product has been registered, they start changing the process of production or formula. This is why post-marketing surveillance monitoring is very important. It ensures that what they brought to us is still what is in the market in order to maintain standard. That is what is called market control,” she concluded.
