The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control(NAFDAC), has warned Nigerians to be mindful of fake products while they purchase food items during the yuletide season.
NAFDAC said Nigerians should be wary, especially of fake tomato paste and seasoning.
Acting director general of the agency, Monica Eimunjeze dropped this alert on the sidelines during a one-day Workshop in Lagos on the dangers of bleaching creams.
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It is almost inevitable the many households in Nigeria will have jollof rice on their menu list during Christmas.
On Tuesday, the acting DG of the national Agency for Food and Drug Administration and control, NAFDAC LED a cracked team of Enforcement Officers to carry out a sting operation on warehouses of different brands of unregistered and substandard tomato paste food seasoning and sardines in Lagos.
Since there is an import ban on tomato paste in Nigeria, the influx of this consumables is a course of concern for the regulatory
agency.
NAFDAC says investigation is ongoing to determine how the products got to the country and who is responsible.
Apart from the consumables, NAFDAC is also worried about the use of use and misuse of bleaching and lightening creams.
This formed the discus at a media sensitisation workshop on the dangers of bleaching creams and regulatory controls.
In collaboration with Nigerian health journalists, NAFDAC says it is taking a holistic look at the cosmetics business.
She advised Nigerians against bleaching creams, saying accumulation of toxic chemicals affect the organs.
She said, “There are many consequences such as kidney failure, liver damage from accumulation of toxic chemicals within the system, so we want people to be aware of this and try to modify their behavior.”
Eimunjeze asked the media to take the lead in the campaign against skin bleaching by giving Nigerians with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions about their health.
She did, however, say that some of these bleaching creams had gone through the regulatory process and were on the agency’s list of authorized items.
