As panic about rising health issues grows, Nigerians have called on NAFDAC to take action against fake and harmful products in the country. Speaking on Morning Crossfire, NAFDAC Deputy Director, Public Affairs, Christiana Obiazokwor, responded to concerns over the agency’s priorities, the ban on sachet alcoholic beverages and genetically modified foods.
Obiazokwor said the agency is currently tackling the harmful rate of fake alcohol, amid claims that it has misplaced its priorities by focusing on alcohol rather than the rise of fake foods, products and drugs linked to ailments such as kidney failure. Responding to the claims, Obiazokwor described the campaigns against NAFDAC as politically motivated and a means of political warfare. She said the agency has also taken action against other products, including drugs and cosmetics.
On sachet and PET-bottle alcoholic beverages, she denied claims that NAFDAC is still issuing registration numbers to companies producing the banned products, saying this stopped after the recent ban was implemented. She acknowledged concerns from affected companies that they had received approval and invested in production before the ban, resulting in financial losses and job cuts. However, she said consumers' lives were more important than the economic gains of the companies involved. Obiazokwor also linked extensive alcohol consumption to recurring kidney and liver problems, particularly among young Nigerians. She said the ban is being implemented step by step, beginning with manufacturers and distributors before products are confiscated from retail outlets.
On concerns surrounding genetically modified organisms (GMOs), she said that although GMO regulation is not usually within NAFDAC’s jurisdiction, the agency gets involved because of public health concerns. She added that NAFDAC’s mandate includes regulating packaged and processed foods.
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