Nigeria’s food administration agency declares additives or chemicals used to enhance the taste of foods and drinks could lead to preventable illnesses or death
The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has warned Nigerians to desist from adding additives or chemicals to enhance the taste of foods and drinks, as they could lead to preventable illnesses or death.
Director General of the Agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, gave the warning on Sunday in Abuja, while confirming the three deaths recorded in Kano State in March was due to food poisoning through adulterated flavoured drinks.
She added that the merchants of the dangerous chemicals have been apprehended.
In a statement made available to newsmen by its Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, the DG maintained that adding dangerous foreign elements into foods and drinks as additives, could become poisonous rather than being nutritious.
While noting that only two of the five flavoured drinks identified in the incidence were registered by NAFDAC, she revealed that E-Coli bacteria and Hyroxylamine poison were present in some of the samples collected and reviewed by the Agency’s laboratory situated in Kaduna State.
According to her, the Agency was committed towards ensuring only safe food and other regulated products were available in the market for consumption and use by the citizenry.
