The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has declared war on tactics of ripening fruits with chemical products and hawking of drug across Nigeria.
Food and drug are important components for health and living. If not properly handled, they are capable of serious health risks.
Now, NAFDAC is flagging off this media Sensitization Workshop on the dangers of drug hawking and ripening of fruits with Carbide in Lagos.
According to 2022 WHO statistics, there is an estimated 600 million cases of food-borne illnesses annually, and an estimated 420,000 people around the world die every year after eating contaminated food (preventable deaths).
Perhaps more chilling is the data that Children under 5 years of age carry 40% of the foodborne disease burden, with 125,000 deaths every year.
Disturbed by the dangers posed by drug hawking and use of calcium carbide for ripening fruits, the Representative of the Director General of NAFDAC says it is ready to wield the big stick in tackling the menace.
The agency is seeking the support of the media as stakeholders in combatting the trend.
