Food
By Mustapha Sumaila
Prof. Moji Adeyeye, Director-General (DG), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has urged Nigerians to consume good diets free of any contamination to guarantee healthy living.
Adeyeye gave the advice on Wednesday at a One Day National Food Safety Stakeholders Workshop on Total Diet Study (TDS) in Abuja.
She explained that various researches had shown that a lot of people had died in the country and across the world as a result of consuming contaminated meals.
She said that the incidence of food-borne diseases remained public health issues of global concern for both developed and developing countries.
According to her, governments around the world are working to improve the safety of food along the supply chain.
Adeyeye stated that based on WHO’s data, 600 million people became ill and about 420,000 deaths occurs yearly across the world after consuming contaminated food.
She added that these deaths were needless and avoidable if only people ensured that only clean and food free from contamination was consumed.
The NAFDAC boss disclosed that the workshop was organised to present the results of the TDS carried out in the country in 2016 by her agency.
She said that the study was a critical programme that monitored the levels of contaminants and nutrients in the average diets of a population.
The DG said that this study conducted by NAFDAC was a significant intervention that would strengthen National Food Control System by generating data on contaminants present in staple food as consumed.
She stated that the study would also create platform for the conduct of risk assessment of residues and contaminants in the country. (NAN)
MS/FF/IS
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Edited by Fela Fashoro/Ismail Abdulaziz
