SON: Battling unfortified sugar, flour to save lives, protect industries
Nigeria is currently populated by 186 million people. This confers a demographic advantage on the country over every other African state and serves as an attraction to international traders, manufacturers and deep-pocket investors.
Due to its size, Nigeria has an enormous need to feed its millions of mouths. And doing this requires strict control of what the citizens consume to save their lives from hawks.
There is an existing order requiring producers of certain products such as flour and sugar to fortify them with vitamin A, but many brands do no obey this directive, thereby exposing Nigerians to associated sight problems like blindness.
As a regulatory body responsible for setting and implementing standards, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) cannot fold its arms when Nigerians’ lives are in jeopardy.
The SON, in its bid to protect Nigerians from the hazards associated with consumption of such products, recently swooped on locations and outlets where unfortified sugar and flour were being sold or warehoused, and confiscated them.
These cut across many parts of the country, including the North-East states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe as well as Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, Kano and Jigawa in the North-West.
A similar operation also took place in different parts of Lagos. The operations which were carried out simultaneously in all the states covered warehouses, stores, markets and trucks in transit following classified information from sister security agencies, patriotic Nigerians and the results of SON nationwide market surveillance activities.
Osita Aboloma, director-general of SON, said in Abuja that the body received security reports and consumer complaints on smuggling and circulation of large consignments of unfortified sugar- and flour-based products across the country.
These, according to him, contravened the country’s regulations on fortifying sugar- and flour-based products and vegetable oil with Vitamin A as specified in the Nigerian Industrial Standards for the products.
The regulation was to protect Nigerians from Vitamin A deficiency, which had been established as the leading cause of preventable childhood blindness, Aboloma said.
“About 250,000 to 500,000 malnourished children in the developing world go blind each year from a deficiency of Vitamin A, (VAD) while about half of them die within a year of becoming blind,” he disclosed.
The SON DG pointed out that VAD contributed to maternal mortality and other poor outcomes in pregnancy and lactation, including diminishing the ability to fight infections, hece the need for regulation on Vitamin A fortification through food vehicles such as sugar, flour and flour based products like pasta.
The seized products, he said, were not registered as required by law, adding that they had misleading labeling and were not fortified with Vitamin A. He stated that many of the consignments were suspected to have been smuggled into the country due to the inability of the unscrupulous traders to provide necessary import documentation.
Felix Nyado, SON director of operations, who coordinated the nationwide raid, said products including over four truck loads of unfortified and substandard sugar, and three trucks of unfortified, wrongly labeled and suspected substandard flour and pasta valued at several millions of naira were confiscated across the eight states of Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, Kano, Jigawa, Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.
The suspected substandard, unfortified and wrongly labeled imported sugar included Nardini, Coplasca, Carolo, Arapora, USJ Ajoao, Usina Santa Isabel, Cooper and Curpersucar brands, while some of the flour-based products apprehended were Oba Makarna and Selva Spaghetti, Chef’s Choice, riboca, Serina and Safina pasta among others, Nyado said.
He reiterated the determination of SON to sustain the nationwide mop-up of all unfortified food products in circulation against the requirements of the Nigerian Industrial Standards wherever they were found, in the interest of the country, particularly children and mothers.
Nyado admonished product distributors, wholesalers and retailers to join the quality vanguard by avoiding warehousing substandard and injurious products.
A total of 10 suspects arrested during the exercises have been interrogated and are helping SON and the security agencies in their investigations, while samples of the seized products are being tested at SON internationally accredited food and micro nutrient laboratories in Lagos, the agency said.
“They will be duly charged to court on conclusion of investigations in line with the SON Act 14 of 2015,” a statement y the agency said.
In the Lagos operation, SON operatives moved swiftly, sealing a warehouse and shops stocked with uncertified pasta, flour and sugar in different areas of the state, and also raided major markets in the state.
According to Aboloma, the exercise was carried out because the warehouses and shops contained products that were unwholesome and therefore risky for human consumption.
He said the products were smuggled in with no import documentation and registration numbers, adding that they could lead to dangerous health hazards to unsuspecting consumers who buy them.
Aboloma said the raid followed intelligent reports and the cooperation of patriotic Nigerians, adding that the enforcement exercise would continue as a way of ensuring that only goods that met the minimum requirement of the Nigeria Industrial Standards (NIS) were sold in the country.
“As far as we are concerned, these products do not meet our standard specifications. There are no documentations as to show how they got into the country. They are not supposed to be on our shelves”, Aboloma said.
He said the sale of uncertified pasta, flour and sugar in the country was particularly worrisome considering that there was a government policy on their fortification with Vitamin A as a way of preserving the sight of Nigerians.
“Flour, pasta and sugar are foods that Nigerians consume regularly and if they are not fortified with the necessary vitamins, the Nigerian consumers would be prone to blindness and other sight problems,” he warned.
Aboloma, who was represented by Suleiman Issa, deputy director, head of market surveillance, added that the campaign to eradicate substandard imported sugar, flour and flour products in the country would continue, assuring Nigerians that wherever these products were found, they would be removed.
“These products do not have product registration on them for us to know that they have undergone the necessary testing and certification. I will advise Nigerians to look out for the labelling, registration numbers of SON and NAFDAC. Any product that is not certified and is smuggled is very risky and unwholesome for consumption. Any shop where we see even a pack of imported non-conforming flour-based products would be removed. We will hold the owner responsible until he takes us to the source,” he said.
In his words, “The fortification is a mandatory policy of the federal government. Any sugar, flour or pasta that must be consumed in Nigeria must be fortified with Vitamin A. This is why this exercise is very important to the consumers.”
He advised importers and vendors to desist from selling flour-based products that could endanger people’s health, stressing that the SON’s effort to stamp out substandard products in the country required the collective efforts of Nigerians, urging market women particularly not to patronise uncertified brands.
“This is just the beginning. We will continue the exercise, and that is why we are urging Nigerians to be wary of unfit imported products. We are aware that some of these products are smuggled in the dead of the night using unofficial routes. We will continue to checkmate those behind their importation,” the DG said.
According to him, the SON would intensify its efforts at those routes where the products were brought in, while also sensitising the Nigerian populace on the implication of patronising and consumption of uncertified imported products.
He advised shop owners not to shelve or sell unwholesome imported pasta, flour, salt and other products.
Aboloma said the importation of unwholesome products was a way of killing local industries, in addition to constituting health and economic risks, adding that most of such products dumped in Nigeria could not be sold in the country of origin but were shipped to Africa and smuggled in through unauthorised routes.
ODINAKA ANUDU