Anastasia Okechukwu ReportingÂ
The National Agency of Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Monday, announced that it would commerce the testing of Indomie noodles including the seasoning from the production facilities and market by Tomorrow, May 2.
This follows a recent ban on Indomie noodles by Taiwan and Malaysia authorities over report that it health officials had detected ethylene oxide, a compound, in Indomie special chicken flavour noodle that causes cancer.
The Director General of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye who made this known in a statement, said the product is on the prohibition list of the government, adding that it is not registered by the agency and had been banned from importation to Nigeria years ago.
Adeyeye said, “NAFDAC started investigating and responding immediately to the news of recalled Indomie noodles by Taiwan and Malaysia authorities.
“Tomorrow, May 2, 2023, NAFDAC’s Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Directorate will randomly sample Indomie noodles (including the seasoning) from the production facilities while Post Marketing Surveillance Directorate samples from the markets. The compound of interest is ethylene oxide, so the Director, Food Lab Services Directorate has been engaged. He is working on the methodology for the analysis.
“The compound of interest is ethylene oxide, so the director, food lab services directorate, has been engaged. He is working on the methodology for the analysis.
“It should be noted that Indomie noodles have been banned from being imported into the country for many years. It is one of the foods on the government prohibition list. It is not allowed in Nigeria, and therefore not registered by NAFDAC.”
She also said that the reason for the testing even though the product has been banned from being imported into the country was to ensure that the product has not been smuggled into the country and if so, it will be detected, same goes with the seasoning.
“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. That is what NAFDAC Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FSAN) and Post-Marketing Surveillance (PMS) are doing this week at the production facilities and in the market, respectively. Thank you. The public will be duly updated with the outcomes of the investigation.”