The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has said that it would commence laboratory testing of Indomie noodles in the country as from Tuesday, May 2, 2023.
Director General (DG) of the Agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye gave the hint in a statement issued on Monday, May 1, 2023.
Adeyeye said NAFDAC had started investigating and responding immediately to the news of recalled Indomie noodles by Taiwan and Malaysia authorities.
She informed that tomorrow, May 2, 2023, NAFDAC’s Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Directorate will randomly sample Indomie noodles (including the seasoning) from the production facilities while Post Marketing Surveillance Directorate, samples from the markets.
The DG explained that, the compound of interest was ethylene oxide, so the Director, Food Lab Services Directorate had been engaged and working on the methodology for the analysis.
She said, it should be noted that
Indomie noodles had been banned from being imported into the country for many years. It is one of the foods on the government prohibition list. It is not allowed in Nigeria, and therefore not registered by NAFDAC.
Speaking further, she explained that what NAFDAC is doing is an extra caution to ensure that the product is not smuggled in, and if so, the post marketing surveillance would detect it.
“We also want to be sure that the spices used for the Indomie and other noodles in Nigeria are tested. That is what NAFDAC Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FSAN) and Post Marketing Surveillance (PMS) are doing this week at the production facilities and in the market, respectively. The public will be duly updated with the outcomes of the investigation”, she said.
