Suspected merchants of dangerous chemicals used in food and drinks supposedly to enhance taste, have been arrested by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
The arrest was effected after the substance killed three people who consumed adulterated flavoured drinks in Kano.
Director General of NAFDAC, Mojisola Adeyeye made the announcement in a statement issued by the NAFDAC resident media consultant, Olusayo Akintola.
In the preliminary result of the agency’s investigation which was submitted to Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State during her two-day visit to the state to assess the incident, Adeyeye pointed out that food contamination and poisoning could occur through consuming expired food or preparing food with poorly sourced water and putting cooked food on the shelf for several days or months.
She recalled that shortly after the news of the deaths was received, six directorates of the agency swung into action to unravel the mystery behind the sad event and found that only two of the five flavoured drinks identified in the incidence were registered by NAFDAC. She said that the three others were not in the agency’s database.
She said that samples of the chemicals and additives that were added while preparing the flavoured drinks were then collected and taken to NAFDAC’s laboratory in Kaduna for testing and further testing was conducted at the agency’s central laboratory in Lagos for confirmation.
According to her, any food that is unregistered is not guaranteed by NAFDAC and it can be unwholesome, fake food or smuggled food.
Adeyeye said;
“It was heartwarming that merchants of the deadly chemicals and additives had been apprehended while the further investigation continued.
“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 can 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.
“NAFDAC is now working assiduously in partnership with the Kano State Government with a view to preventing reoccurrence of the March 11 incident.
“We tested all the food samples and there were E-Coli bacteria in some; one would wonder how E-Coli bacteria would get into powder. It depends on the storage.
“If it is stored in a very humid condition, and expired, the packaging probably was getting compromised, you can get bacteria into dry powdered medium, but ordinarily it shouldn’t happen.”
Adeyeye said the Pharmacovigilance Directorate of the agency had sent an alert to all the 36 state offices of NAFDAC and the FCT to mount surveillance on unregistered products and mop them up.
According to her, before any chemical can be legally imported into Nigeria, full authorisation and permit must be obtained from NAFDAC to ensure that no dangerous chemicals are imported.
She added;
“NAFDAC does end-to-end monitoring for all chemicals and requests for distribution and utilisation patterns before giving importers permits to import chemicals.
“The public should know that they don’t have to add chemicals to food, except table salt. Chemicals kill very fast because there is no prescribed amount to use.
“To use chemical to make food or drink sour, you may never know what you are adding.
“The only regulated additives are Sugar, Saccharin and sweetening; and there are prescribed amount to put in food.
“These regulated products are inside the food and not something you sprinkle on the food like what happened in Kano.”
