The director general of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mojisola Adeyeye, has denied claims that she advised Nigerians to avoid bread baked and sold in the country due to the presence of saccharine, a banned sweetener.
Adeyeye said NAFDAC never issued any statement suggesting that Nigerian bread is unsafe for consumption.
The denial came in response to a viral video by a social media influencer who claimed that NAFDAC had advised Nigerians to avoid locally baked bread because samples had failed laboratory tests due to the presence of saccharine.
The influencer also alleged that Nigerian bakers have turned to saccharine as a substitute for sugar, which has become prohibitively expensive due to inflation.
In a statement on Tuesday, August 27, Adeyeye confirmed that saccharine is indeed banned in bread production in Nigeria, in line with global health guidelines due to its potential health risks to consumers.
She emphasized that NAFDAC, as a vigilant regulator, has been actively sanctioning bakers who violate this regulation while emphasizing that the social media influencer does not represent or speak on behalf of NAFDAC.
