…Says palm oil mixed with dye, lard
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, (FCCPC), has raised the alarm over the increase in adulterated and contaminated foods in the markets.
FCCPC Acting Executive Vice-chairman, Adamu Abdullahi, who stated this in Abuja yesterday, said that some traders were engaging in various forms of adulteration without considering the health implications for consumers.
Abdullahi said this at a one-day sensitisation for traders, farmers, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), and the public on the forceful ripening of fruits, adulterated palm oil, contaminated meat, and grains.
According to him, the move would ensure a healthier society in line with President Bola Tinubus Renewed Hope Agenda.
He said the Acts establishing the FCCPCFC gave it powers to evacuate fake and adulterated products from the markets to prevent consumers from purchasing them.
We will go to the markets to sensitise the traders and educate the public and sellers that adulterated, fake products are not allowed in the markets; and if they see any, they have somewhere to report. We are also going to markets in the States, the grassroots, and farms to find out the sharp practices going on and to ensure we get a healthier society in line with President Tinubus Renewed Hope Agenda.
Femi Stephen, of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, described adulteration as the addition of sub-standard substances that have the same properties as the food with which they are mixed.
Stephen said palm oil was adulterated with dye, lard (animal fat from pork), and transformer oil (paraffin), warning that adulteration is linked to various health challenges. He listed some health issues linked to adulteration, such as abdominal pain, nausea, brain damage, stomach disorder, cardiac arrest, liver disease and breathing difficulties. He urged farmers to seek experts guidance in applying pesticides to avoid poisoning.
Promise Ogbonna, of the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), said that forceful fruit ripening is detrimental to health. She said calcium carbide used for the forceful ripening of fruits was arsenic and phosphorus, which had been said to be carcinogenic.
National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS) North-Central vice-president, Edozie Ugwu, commended the FCCPC for the sensitisation, saying many Nigerians had lost their vital body organs to food adulteration. He said the market associations would collaborate with the FCCPC and other government agencies to ensure that the law penalised any trader found wanting in the practice.
The market associations, including market women associations and members of the Food and Hygiene Association of Nigeria, were present at the event.
