Stakeholders noted that everyone must play their roles in ensuring food safety.
Nigerians have over time, experienced severe health outcomes as a result of the poor food safety practices in the country. The National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) noted that the high poor practices and standard of food has led to a huge economic digression, evident in the rejection of some food exports due to contamination and adulteration of these products. NAFDAC’s Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, further raised this issue, claiming that it deserves urgent attention.
Recently, stakeholders have also raised concerns over the rising unsatisfactory practice of food safety, asserting that everyone must work collaboratively to ensure a standard food safety practice. During the 2022 National Food Safety Program that held at the Ministry of Environment, Abuja, and was collaboratively powered by The National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), National Industrial Safety Council of Nigeria (NISCN) and RCL City Center these stakeholders, whilst evaluating the food safety practices, averred that it was everyone’s responsibility to ensure a standard food safety practice.
Food safety practices must not be restricted to just the regulatory bodies.
This event was also pushed by the Federal Competition and Consumption Protection Commission (FCCPC), Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), Ministry of Health, Labour and Employment, and the Lagos state safety commission. The stakeholders posited that the food safety practice must not be restricted to just the regulatory bodies in the industry but a general responsibility. The Chief Executive Officer of RCL Industrial Safety Centre, Mr. Joe Oduah stated that it was the task of everyone involved in the production, processing selling and preparing of food to unsure a safe practice.
On the summit, he asserted that the program was designed to bring together, the operators of the food industry. He noted that it was very important, gathering the value chain of the food industry, ranging from the growers, fertilizers, transport and storage agencies, as well as the regulatory agencies and policy makers to brainstorm on new paradigms that will help prevent ill food safety practices and save companies’ reputations by procuring better food production habits.
Consumers must also protect themselves against substandard products.
On the importance of the summit, Mr. Joe Oduah again posited that most times, while producers of food product have found it so difficult to export their products due to the substandard quality produced here, growers of these food products also have a problem with storing due to the poor storage habits in the country. Thus, there was a basic need for evaluating the factors affecting the food industry and proposing different ideas to salvage these situations, as well as inculcating the modern practices that the regulatory agencies are aligned to.
Nimatullah Braimah, a senior scientific officer in the quality assurance and development department of FCCPC noted that the commission was mandated to protect consumers against the consumption of unsafe food. She stated that consumers must protect themselves from substandard products by ensuring that they purchase quality products by always reading through the labels and instructions on the products. She also tasked consumers to always ascertain the manufacturing and expiry date by checking the products’ date markings.
The summit was to procure solutions to the problems of the food industry.
Anne Iweka, a representative of the food and drugs service department, federal ministry of health also commented that the program was shaped to bring forward, different solutions to the problems that stakeholders faced in the food industry. She further stated that the federal government has been working with the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in procuring better paradigms for food safety in the country. She however averred that it was very important for the stakeholders and other agencies to carry out nationwide sensitizations on ways to ensure food safety.
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Food safety must be everyone’s responsibility regardless of the food handlers. We must all play a role in food hygiene either way. The health ministry has issued warning about paying attention to food labels and manufacturing date with the expired date as well. We have a lot to do about food storage also. The country lacks behind in this field.
This is very true. The safety of our food should be everyones priority and people should be ready to ensure this is done. Alot of food poisoning can happen as a result of using spoilt food stuffs, not washing the washable things to cook, eating canned or packaged expired food etc. We really need to be careful with the things we eat and drink. The responsibility falls back on us especially if our health deteriorates because of what we eat and drink.
Safety of food is all our concern from buying to where it is stored to area where it is processed and packaged for sales or distribution,we really need SON to do more and set standard and rules to curb all these Menace
Food safety is everyone responsibility. Taking note of food we are consuming like check the label whether is expired or not and those people producing food should not used what they are suppose not to used to produce foods. We have to be careful about what we eat and drink so it will not damage our health
Food safety is everyone responsibility. We need to be careful on what we eat out there. We need to know who what we consume is been made or brought in. NAFDAC have to do more work for the safety of all of us
As food offers the body energy, it may also cause harm to our body if it’s not safe to eat, thus we all need to be conscientious with what we eat to keep safe and healthy.
If we are to eat, it should come first to consume safe food. To ensure our safety and health, let’s all make an effort to inspect the meals we eat, especially for spoiled or expired items, as well as how we prepare it.
The safety of our food should be everyone’s priority regardless of the person in possession of the food. we really need to be careful with the things we eat and drink. If we do not the side effects will tell on us. Let be wise!
People have to learn how to take proper care of their meals because it’s them that will be harmed if the meal is bad.
Food safety can’t be left in the hands of the government along, each and everyone of should ensure that our food we eat is safe else we directly risk the state of our health.
Some of the food producers are providing substandard food materials so the food might even be bad before it gets to the consumers
The food safety practise shouldn’t merely be left up to the regulatory agencies in the industry; rather, it should be a shared duty for everyone.
the relevant parties and other organisations to conduct out awareness campaigns on a national scale regarding the best ways to keep food safe.
Not only the regulatory bodies should be responsible for food safety, everyone should take part in it, because it’s majorly the people that will benefit from it.
Food safety is everyone responsibility and that is with dispute. We all need to be at alert to ensure safety of our food it we don’t want to infected by food borne diseases.
Food safety should be everyone’s priority because that’s what we actually consume and it can harm us if it is bad
I don’t expect people to be relying on regulatory agencies for the safety of their food. There’s no doubts that the agencies are the do their part but then members if the the community have major roles to play.
The onus of accountability rests squarely on our shoulders, particularly if the food and drink we consume causes a decline in our health.
No one needs to start advising anyone about food safety, because everyone should be aware of the fact that if they consume something bad it will affect their health.
The agency responsible for the eradication of fake product has not been doing enough nowadays and all this still boil down to level corruption level in all government agency and parastatals.
People have just small roles to play in food safety, obviously random people can’t storm into a company producing food ti check the environment in which they are producing. So the agency should first ensure that foods are be in g produced in good co conditions then the people should ensure they preserve the food well
Safety is very important in food consumption.
So everybody should be mindful of fake products as they can be harmful to human health.
Checking product details very well before eating can save
a difficulty with storing due to poor storage habits in the country also contributes to our country’s lack of care for food cleanliness. [Cause and effect]
Consumers have a responsibility to safeguard themselves from low-quality goods by making it a priority to acquire only high-quality items and carefully perusing the product labels and directions before making any purchases.