FG raises concerns food safety in Nigeria.

The Federal Government has raised concerns over the country's food safety, citing the alarming rate of foodborne illnesses. 

Stakeholders at a national awareness campaign in Abuja on Thursday, including representatives from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture, Nigerian Council of Food Science and Technology (NiCFoST), Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), and food experts, revealed that over 200,000 Nigerians die annually from food-related diseases. 

Speaking at the event, the Director of Nutrition at the Federal Ministry of Health, Ladidi Bako-Aiyegbusi, emphasized that food safety is a national security issue, hence the need for citizens to prioritize food safety as an investment.

In her remarks, the registrar of NiCFoST, Veronica Ezeh, who was represented by the head of Inspection and Monitoring, Bello Kabiru, said that unhealthy food practices, such as using detergent solutions to soften cassava, washing fruits with chemicals, and preserving food with harmful substances like formalin, have been identified as major contributors to foodborne illnesses, warning that offenders of such practices are liable to one to two years imprisonment.

In separate remarks, the deputy director at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Safety, Dr. Aisha Isa, and the assistant chief scientific officer in the Quality Assurance Department at FCCPC, Victoria Oye, said the government has launched a campaign to encourage organic farming and promote food safety awareness.

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