Concerns as Mycotoxins deny Nigerian products access to EU market
Experts say the use of ‘Mycotoxins’ remains a major factor denying Nigerian and other developing countries’ food items access to the European and American markets.
Mycotoxin is a toxic secondary metabolite produced by organisms of the fungi kingdom, commonly known as molds.
Mycotoxin is a toxic secondary metabolite produced by organisms of the fungi kingdom, commonly known as molds.
This concern is coming on the heels of the European Union (EU) ban, until 2016, of beans and other staple food items from Nigeria due to failure to comply with Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and food safety measures.
“Mycotoxins affect the health of the humans and the animals,” said Anthony Negedo, deputy director at Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), and president of
Mycotoxins Society of Nigeria, at an international symposium organised by International Society for Horticultural Science(ISHS) and RMRDC in Abuja.
“The spate of cancer in the country now is worrisome and ‘Aflatoxin’ has been implicated as an agent of cancer and underweight of children, because it goes straight to attack organs in the system. Mycotoxins do not segregate the big from the common people,” Negedo said.
“What we are doing is to lay emphasis on healthy food for both locally consumed food and our exportable products,” he added.
He said the EU places ban on commodities of Nigerian origin like the sesame seeds, palm oil, beans, ‘Ogbono’ and melon seeds owing to biochemical contaminants.
“It was banned because they know the effects and would like to protect their citizens. We are creating awareness here so that our people would also ensure healthy standard in buying these items. We want people to know that this has a great impact on their health and the economy,” Negedo further said.
Ike Ubaka, president, All Farmers Association of Nigeria, said the group is made up of people that are permanent stakeholders with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), the ECOWAS Secretariat and the African Union (AU).
“Our major handicap on agric trading has been fungus and bacteria fungal effects. From harvests, deterioration sets in immediately. The way we accept things is not the way industrialised environments would accept it. When we package it, we find out that it is not properly done most times. As a result, you even pay for the clean up of their environment, because they would claim their environment has been contaminated,” Ubaka said.
Dele Fapohunda, president of Safe Food and Feed foundation, said Nigeria must set regulatory limits for its people within the country and regulatory limits for exports, adding that doing so would guarantee public health and enhance export.
The Federal Ministry of Health had earlier constituted the Food Safety Committee and the Food Safety Management Commission to ensure that standards are sustained on local consumption and to forestall rejects of Nigeria goods in European markets.
Harrison Edeh