The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), says Indomie and other noodle brands in Nigeria are safe for consumption.
The agency added that its investigations revealed that Indomie Noodles implicated in Malaysia and Taiwan were not in Nigeria.
The HintsNews reports that NAFDAC had earlier ordered an investigation into the composition of Indomie and other noodle brands sold in Nigeria following news of the recall of Indomie Noodles from Malaysia and Taiwan.
In a statement issued Thursday by the Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, said officials of the agency went round and took samples from the market ‘’because there are suitcase importers that may bring such products in without us knowing.’’
The agency said it did not ban importation of Indomie during the recent Taiwan and Malaysia episode where many people died after consuming Indomie Noodle.
She said: ‘’I love to eat good food, including noodles. But I want to be sure that the food I am eating is not going to make me sick, take medicine. And if I am taking medicine the food that I am eating will not make me to add to the medicine that I am taking. Therefore, I take food very, very seriously.”
Adeyeye explained that immediately the news of the recall of Indomie Noodles from Malaysia and Taiwan got to Nigeria, she directed the Director, Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Mrs. Eva Edwards, and Director of Laboratory Services (Food), Dr Charles Nwachukwu, respectively to begin tripartite discussions with manufacturers and marketers.
She revealed that samples of the noodles and seasonings (spices), were collected by the Agency for laboratory analysis.On when the results were going to come out, she said the agency had run all the necessary tests.
‘’But we needed a chemical standard. It’s all science. We are a science organisation, and our processes are science driven. We cannot conduct our own Nigerian science. No. We have to use the international standard chemical agents and things like that,’’ she added.
Adeyeye maintained that the implicated foreign noodles were not in Nigeria, hence, the locally produced noodles are safe for human consumption.