The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has assured consumers of Indomie and other noodle brands in Nigeria of the safety of the staple food insisting that investigations by the Agency had revealed that Indomie Noodles implicated in the recalls in Malaysia and Taiwan were not in Nigeria.
In a statement by the NAFDAC Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye disclosed this on Thursday, June 15, 2023, during the Quarterly Interactive session between the Agency and the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) in Lagos.
Adeyeye explained that immediately after the news of the recalls of Indomie Noodles from Malaysia and Taiwan got to Nigeria she directed the Director, of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Mrs. Eva Edwards, and the Director of Laboratory Services (Food), Dr. Charles Nwachukwu, respectively to begin tripartite discussions with manufacturers and marketers.
She stressed that the Agency was highly sensitive in terms of food safety, adding that NAFDAC officials went around and took samples from the market, ‘’because there are suitcase importers that may bring such product in without us knowing’’.
The NAFDAC boss emphasised that the Agency did not ban the importation of Indomie during the recent Taiwan and Malaysia episode where many people died after consuming Indomie Noodle. She said that Noodles generally had been banned by the Federal Government many years before she assumed office as DG NAFDAC to protect the local manufacturing sector.
She, however, insisted that the implicated foreign noodles were not in Nigeria, hence, the locally produced noodles were safe for human consumption.
She also said, ‘’We are improving on what will make our people healthier. Whatever we put into our food will affect us. Whether positively or otherwise’’.
Prof. Adeyeye however, urged the Nigerian manufacturers to strive to bring quality into their products, stressing that, with quality now comes opportunities to trade globally, since Nigeria’s market was the largest in Africa.
The Director General of MAN, Mr. Segun Ajayi Quadri, eulogized Prof. Adeyeye for her leadership acumen which had transformed the Agency to a lofty height in the last five years.
Acknowledging the cordial working relationship between the two organisations, Mr. Segun Quadri said this will give meaning to all the efforts at enhancing the contribution of the manufacturing sector to the nation’s GDP and its competitiveness index.
