The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has declared that it never warned against consumption of bread made and sold in Nigeria as claimed in a video in circulation.
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Mojisola Adeyeye, made the declaration on Tuesday following the “misconception” that trailed the statement made by NAFDAC South-West Coordinator, Roseline Ajayi, who said recently that bread sold in the markets was failing laboratory tests because producers were using addictive as saccharine due to the high cost of sugar.
Adeyeye said the content of the video did not reflect the observation of the official of NAFDAC but the personal opinion of the reporter.
“At no time during that engagement with stakeholders did NAFDAC suggest that Nigerians should avoid bread baked and sold in Nigeria,” she said.
“NAFDAC dissociates herself from the comment of the reporter in the circulating video about avoiding bread in Nigeria.
“This is the personal statement of the reporter who does not speak for the Agency,” she added.
While stressing that the agency “is a responsible regulator and does not make general statements capable of causing panic and fear in the population,” the NAFDAC boss warned bakers in the country against using unapproved food additives.
She also reassured the public that NAFDAC remained fully alive to her responsibilities of safeguarding the health of the public.
According to her, “Any baker found to be using unapproved food additives, in this case, saccharine, is appropriately sanctioned in line with the extant regulatory provisions.”
She added: “The Nigerian Industrial Standard (NIS) does not permit the use of saccharine in bread. This is the same for the Codex General Standard for Food Additives (GSFA), an authoritative reference point for food additives, which also does not permit the use of saccharine in bread.
“Like other food additives, sweeteners usually undergo thorough risk assessments for safety by an expert body, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) before approval for use.”
