How scavengers divert expired products to markets for consumer consumption — NAFDAC reveals

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has exposed how scavengers return expired products to markets for consumers consumption.

The Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye made the revelation at the Agency’s Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Directorate Stakeholder’s Engagement with food sector operators in Lagos.

Warning food manufacturing companies, the DG noted that the agency will no longer accept poorly destroyed expired or stolen products sneaking into the market through scavengers at waste dump site, thereby endangering lives of innocent consumers, particularly, children.

Unequivocally condemning the habit of patronising unbranded cereals in the open market, Prof. Adeyeye warned that when a product is not certified by NAFDAC it is not advised that anybody should consume it, adding that the unbranded products in the market, do not have NAFDAC registration/marketing authorization number.

She emphasised that all the products that have gone through the regulatory processes are packaged with NAFDAC registration number on them.

“We cannot speak to the safety of unbranded food in the open market. We do not know where they have come from. We don’t know anything about the expiry date. We cannot trace,” she said.

In 2021 and 2022, she recalled that the Agency carried out a lot of investigation and enforcement activities on unbranded cereals leading to the arrest of some people that were selling online in Onitsha and brought them to Lagos.

Delving into the psychology of the consumption pattern of the risky products, the DG disclosed that in the cause of investigation it was discovered that the people would prefer to buy the unbranded ones despite the inherent dangers associated with it.

“We considered the circumstances and the packaging, and we couldn’t really understand whether it is cheaper,” she said, adding that “we found out that even some smaller packages, the smallest packages of cereals were also removed from the packaging materials and also sold in bulk. They add them together and sell online.”

On the issue of the source of the cereals, the NAFDAC boss argued that some industries are also complicit in this.

She said, “We found out that some of the cereals were picked up from dump sites in Agbara.”

She said that investigations by the Agency revealed that the products were disposed through Ogun State Waste Management Authority, adding that the disposal methods of companies are also an issue.

“If you want to dispose of some bad or expired products, you are supposed to destroy it by NAFDAC Investigation and Enforcement Directorate, not by company directly through waste disposal authorities. It will always get to scavengers who will sell it back to the market.”

According to her, further investigations revealed that most of the products were stolen from company warehouses “because we found out that not all the products had expired.”

“Some of them were in company’s packaging materials when diverted to sell in retail prices online and in the marketplaces.”

Last year the Agency uncovered two warehouses at Trade Fair Complex, Lagos loaded with N3 billion worth of counterfeit drugs and children’s cereals picked from dump sites.

“We also must sensitize the industry because if there are compromises in the industry it could lead to serious dangers to our health,” she said, stressing that “If the SOP in the industry says go and dump it in a dump site, the industry is at fault also.”

She noted with a voice laden with grief that, “If the person that got it stolen from the factory is going to sell it less than the packaged material from the company, people will want to buy even if it has later been contaminated.”

She, however, called for the investigation and prosecution of those who took the products from the dump site for sale, adding that “our climate is not very helpful when it comes to food preservation. If it is in the open air, it’s going to start getting degraded. That’s why we should avoid exposure of food to the elements.”

The DG who noted that she put a lot of premium on food, added that “the food we eat may make us ill and to be more dependent on medicine. If we make sure that people eat quality food, they will take less medicine.”

She, however, urged manufacturers of food products to always be more concerned about their products in the market by establishing Post Market Surveillance unit in their companies.

She recalled that years ago, the Agency had made Post Marketing Surveillance (PMS) mandatory for companies, but compliance has been poor. She, however, stated that henceforth, if a company doesn’t have Post Marketing Surveillance or Post Marketing Pharmacovigilance (for drug manufacturing Companies) department, the product will not be renewed.

“We have asked companies to establish PMS dept where they send people out to the market to see what is happening to their products out there. Once you get an inkling of somebody adulterating your product you call us because you don’t have power to go with the police. We have the power to go and raid. That’s why we need collaboration because we must change our industrial practice.

“That’s how to get the best out of your trade. Once you tell us, I assure you we will be there in hours in terms of mopping it up and getting the suspect arrested and prosecuted.

“The Agency strongly calls for more food safety consciousness and compliance for continuous improvement in imbibing a food safety culture amongst industry players and consumers. This, she said, will make for the desired conformance to safety practices in processing, production, packaging, distribution, and storage of pre-packaged foods.

“NAFDAC will continue to advocate for the support of her partners and stakeholders in the quest for better, safer, healthier, more nutritious food. We all stand to benefit from this as we are all consumers.”

Nestle Nigeria Plc, Quaker Oat, Flour Mills, Coca Cola, Guinness, Oriental Foods, OK Foods, Promasidor Nigeria Ltd, Cadbury Nigeria Ltd, CHI Ltd, UAC and NB Plc were some of the over 50 food manufacturing companies at the forum.