NAFDAC emphasises collective responsibilities in ensuring food safety
At the 2024 World Food Safety Day celebration, the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, issued a clarion call for enhanced food safety measures across Nigeria.
Addressing stakeholders on Tuesday, she underscored the critical need to cultivate a robust food safety culture to preempt and manage potential food hazards and risks.
World Food Safety Day, established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2018, serves as a global platform to heighten food safety awareness and foster cross-sector collaboration.
This year’s theme, ‘Food Safety: Prepare for the Unexpected,’ prompts a collective examination of preparedness against unforeseen food safety threats in an increasingly interconnected global food supply chain.
However, using statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), Prof. Adeyeye noted that one in ten people worldwide fall ill from contaminated food annually, resulting in 420,000 deaths.
Developing countries, including Nigeria, bear a significant portion of this burden, with approximately $110 billion lost annually in medical expenses due to unsafe food.
She said, “Food safety is paramount not only for public health but also for economic development and food security.”
She therefore called on all participants in the food supply chain, from farmers to consumers, to actively engage in ensuring the safety of food, asserting that “Everyone has a role to play to ensure that the food we consume is safe and will not harm our health.”
Prof. Adeyeye also pointed to the WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) call for all stakeholders ranging from regulatory officers, experts, producers, to processors, distributors, retailers, restaurant outlets and consumers, to assess their readiness to tackle unexpected food safety threats.
She stressed that food safety is a collective responsibility that requires vigilance and proactive measures from all involved parties.
Contributing, the Director of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FSAN), Mrs. Eva Edwards, emphasised on the preventable nature of foodborne diseases despite their high cost. She recalled the global and national recognition of the severe public health impact of these diseases, which according to her, can lead to significant morbidity and mortality.
Mrs. Edwards advocated for a multisectoral, collaborative, and integrated ‘one-health’ approach to food safety emergency response. This approach involves coordinated efforts across the Health, Agriculture, and Environment sectors, along with input from external partners and non-governmental organisations.
Such coordination is essential for comprehensive investigations into foodborne disease outbreaks, drawing on the expertise of epidemiologists, laboratory scientists, environmental health officers, and food safety control officers.
The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has already implemented programs like the National Integrated Guidelines for Foodborne Disease Surveillance and Response, designed to enhance preparedness and rapid response to emerging foodborne threats.
In her concluding remarks, Prof. Adeyeye urged all stakeholders to embody the principles that “food safety is everyone’s business” and “food safety is a shared responsibility.”
“By fostering a culture of good hygiene practices at all levels, from homes to food establishments, Nigeria can ensure a safer and healthier food supply for all,” she said.
