The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and Manufacturers Association Nigeria (MAN) has assured consumers of the safety indomie and other noodle brands.
They said that the investigations by the agency have revealed that indomie noodles implicated in the recalls in Malaysia and Taiwan was not in Nigeria.
Speaking on the development, Director General (DG) NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, during the quarterly interactive session between the agency and manufacturers in Lagos, she implored Nigerians to always eat safe.
“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 add to the medicine that I am taking. Therefore, I take food very, very seriously,” she said.
The agency boss explained that immediately the news of the recalls of indomie noodles from Malaysia and Taiwan got to Nigeria the Director, Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Mrs. Eva Edwards, and Director of Laboratory Services (Food), Dr. Charles Nwachukwu, respectively, were directed to begin tripartite discussions with manufacturers and marketers where samples of the noodles and seasonings (spices), were collected by NAFDAC for laboratory analysis.
The DG, who disclosed that the Agency had run all the necessary tests, noted that: “We needed a chemical standard. It’s all science. We are a science organisation, and our processes are science driven. We cannot conduct our own Nigerian science. No. We have to use the international standard chemical agents and things like that.
“The Agency is highly sensitive in terms of food safety, adding that we have to make sure that we do the right thing, regulatory-wise.”
The NAFDAC boss emphasized that the agency did not ban importation of indomie during the recent Taiwan and Malaysia episode where many people died after consuming indomie noodle.
She said that importation of noodles generally had been banned by the federal government many years before she assumed office as DG NAFDAC in order to protect the local manufacturing sector.
She disclosed that the implicated foreign noodles are not in Nigeria, hence, the locally produced noodles were safe for human consumption.
Also speaking, Director General (DG), MAN, Mr. Segun Ajayi Quadri, eulogised Prof Adeyeye for her leadership acumen which has transformed the Agency to a lofty height in the last five years.
Acknowledging the cordial working relationship between the two organisations, he said: “We shall also be looking for the definitive action on the outstanding memorandum of understanding between NAFDAC and MAN.
“We remain convinced that the MOU exemplifies the concretization of the cooperation and collaboration that we have built over the years, provides the basis for certainty.”
