The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said it would arrest importers and sellers of unbranded cereals and other food items of industrial sizes in the open markets.

The agency expressed strong disapproval, stating that some manufacturers and their suppliers have been discovered engaging in the importation of approved bulk food items, which subsequently make their way into open markets.

The agency observed that this practice could originate either from the manufacturing plants or their suppliers, posing health hazards to unsuspecting consumers due to the dispensing method in unsanitary conditions.

The Director General (DG) of the agency, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, stated that the bypassing of its approval is unacceptable, warning that starting from 2024, the agency has implemented additional stringent measures to eradicate such occurrences.

She said NAFDAC will adopt a more rigorous approach in granting permits for the importation of bulk food raw materials starting from 2024.

In a statement released by Sayo Akintola, the agency’s Resident Media Consultant, on Sunday, Adeyeye addressed stakeholders during the end-of-year open dialogue and feedback session with food manufacturing companies, where she explained that the influx of these items into the country occurs because companies have sought permission to utilize them in the production of their NAFDAC registered products.

The DG who was represented by the Director of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FSAN), Mrs. Eva Edwards, said, “We are concerned that we find these items being sold in measures, scoops in the open markets.

“So we are looking at that process of issuing permits for bulk food raw materials very critically”.

She disclosed that the regulatory agency has put in place additional measures for assessing and verifying the utilisation records of each company that applies for import permits to import bulk food raw materials.

‘’We don’t want to just see your stock cards, we want to know what you imported in the previous year.

“We want to know what you used because there are some calculations that we need to make” she noted.

According to the statement, Adeyeye reminded the manufacturers that the NAFDAC is not unaware of the ingredients that are used in their products,

She revealed that while in one-on-one discussions with some companies, it was discovered that sometimes companies request far more than they require because they feel that the quantities are going to be cut by the agency.

However, she noted that if the manufacturers can show records of the utilization of the quantities requested in a previous cycle, that it was used, saying, “We will check and do our calculations and if we realise that yes that company is doing business to those levels, we look at the quantity requested and grant approval’’.

The DG though acknowledged that businesses exist to make a profit, saying, “When you are projecting for the coming year, obviously you are also thinking about doing more business. There is always some allowance for that.

“That we don’t want to see is that diversion into the open market. We don’t want people measuring milk and cereals in cups and measures in 2024.

“It is an unhygienic practice. It is not good for the general population in terms of food safety and hygiene”.

While affirming that NAFDAC would continue to advocate for the support of her partners and stakeholders in the quest for better, safer, healthier, more nutritious food, Adeyeye added, ‘’We all stand to benefit from this as we are all consumers’’.

In his remarks, the chairman of, the Technical Committee of the Association of Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Employers (AFBTE), Mr Fred Chiazor, commended NAFDAC for its proactiveness in responding to developments in the industry, saying, ‘’FSAN as a Directorate sees the stakeholders as partners and not as criminals.

“It is a Directorate that wants improvement, and this is a win-win. We are happy that you are doing what you should be doing to grow the industries’’.

He said that NAFDAC and the stakeholders would continue to partner to find areas of better collaboration and improvement in the coming year.

More than 50 food manufacturing companies were at the forum. (The Nation)

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