From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said on Monday, that its officials would carry out random testing of Indomie Instant Noodles.
This, it explained, was to ascertain that post-marketing quality and status of the product following the news of the recall of Indomie Noodles by Taiwan and Malaysia authorities.
NAFDAC, in a statement, recalled that Indomie Noodles was not registered in Nigeria by NAFDAC because it’s one of the foods on the government prohibition list, hence was not allowed in Nigeria, and was also banned from being imported into the country for many years.
NAFDAC, in the statement released by Sayo Akintola, said, “What we are doing is an extra caution to ensure that the product is not smuggled in, and if so, our post-marketing surveillance would detect it. We also want to be sure that the spices used for the Indomie and other noodles in Nigeria are tested.
“It confirmed that beginning from Tuesday, its department on food safety and applied nutrition will randomly sample Indomie noodles including the seasoning from the production facilities while the post-marketing surveillance directorate would pick samples from the markets.”
The Agency explained that the compound of interest is ethylene oxide, hence the Director, Food Laboratory Services Directorate, has been engaged and has been working on the methodology for the analysis.
“That is what NAFDAC’s food safety and applied nutrition and post-marketing surveillance would do this week at the production facilities and in the market, respectively,” the Agency said.
It reassured Nigerians of their safety, and that they would be duly updated with the outcomes of the investigation.