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Nigeria: Killer Milk - Porous Borders As Challenge

Chinyere Okoye

13 October 2008

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Lagos — Recently, the world was greeted with the news of the needless death of scores of infants in China after they were fed with toxic milk. This development has expectedly fuelled global concerns over milk and other dairy products made in the People's Republic of China. There is fear that the deadly products may find its way into the country due to her porous borders, writes Chinyere Okoye

According to agency reports, a large batch of milk, infant formulas and other dairy products from China were contaminated with a toxin known as Melamine. Melamine is a harmful chemical used for the manufacture of plastics. It is said to have high concentration of Nitrogen which is used by food regulatory bodies to measure protein levels in milk and other food products. Reports say that by adding Melamine to milk, dealers in dairy products water down the actual protein level in milk. This camouflage enables criminally minded Chinese to make more profits while selling large volumes of Melamine-tainted milk.

Some of the symptoms associated with drinking Melamine coated milk, particularly among children is nausea, and in acute cases, outright kidney failure or hardening of the kidney which is not only extremely discomforting for children but also a major cause of death among minors. Latest reports from Chinese media have it that at least 22 suspects are currently in police net in China for their roles in introducing lethal Melamine in the milk and protein food chain not only in China but elsewhere.

Among those apprehended is a man surnamed Gao, he is held for producing a "protein powder" containing Melamine, while an accomplice, named Xue is believed to have sold the tainted powder to large number of milk dealers in China. To stave off the dire consequences of this development, no fewer than 20 countries have placed an outright ban on importation of Chinese dairy products.

Back home, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the sole authority charged with the powers to regulate food and drugs quality, has taken measures to curb illegal importation of these deadly milk and protein products by issuing an alert to all its field staff to keep an eye on all market outlets scattered all over the country.

No doubt, the agency as a whistle blower has done what is expected of it in the first instance; to issue an alert to its entire staff on the need to be on the look out for samples of milk and dairy products made from China. What is however not known is how the agency hopes to stop the Melamine contaminated milk from gaining access into Nigeria and where they have, courtesy of the porous border posts across the country, what modalities are on ground to destroy the contaminated batches.

NAFDAC Head of Public Relations, Alhaji Jimoh Abubakar in a reaction to the development explained that the agency has cause to believe that the killer milk is yet to arrive in Nigeria, given also that the agency has no record of the registration of such infant milk products. He said the essence of the nation wide alert on the "deadly milk" is to widen the agency's surveillance net with the ultimate goal of stopping the killer milk from penetrating the Nigerian market. He however admitted that nothing must be left to chances.

"Let me say that from our records, we have not registered any baby food or infant formula from China. However, due to the vast population of the country, together with the porous nature of our borders, all NAFDAC out stations have been alerted on the possibility of the milk finding its way into the country. We want to assure Nigerians that all hands are on deck to make sure that this toxic milk does not see the light of day in this country. As I speak, our men are scouting around different markets on surveillance. So far we have not received any signal that the killer milk is in Nigeria," he said.

According to investigations, some Chinese companies have in recent times been blacklisted by NAFDAC for violating minimum standards and best practices rules for the production, marketing and distribution of certain pharmaceutical products in Nigeria. Further investigations revealed that China has a reputation of willful violation of laid down rules, particularly in the area of production, distribution and marketing of infant formulas.

For instance, investigations revealed that two different brands of baby food products produced in china (Heinz Egg York & Rice cereal and Heing Nutrition's sweet wheat cereal) were originally registered with NAFDAC nearly a decade ago. But the disturbing development about these products is that their registration licenses with NAFDAC expired since July 2000 and has not been renewed by their Chinese owners till date. Therefore, those who continue to buy these brands do so completely at their own risks because they have not been licensed or certified as safe for use in Nigeria.

As a stop gap plan to address these laxities, a ban on importation of baby foods was enforced in 2007. This was done in line with the global listing scheme, with a view to enhancing label-vetting and to ensure that the products (Infant formulas) conform to the requirements of the international code on marketing of infant and your child foods.

In a similar scenario recently, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control saved the day on behalf of Nigerian consumers by banning sale and further use of a drug known as Heparin. This step was taken after use of the drug resulted in the death of hundreds of people across the globe. Heparin is an anticoagulant used for prevention of blood clots. The entire drug was immediately recalled after tests by NAFDAC proved that it was contaminated. What was however shocking in the Heparin saga was that sourcing of the implicated brand was sourced from Changzou Scientific Protein Laboratories (SPL), China, and from a sister company known as Scientific Protein Lab, United States of America.

Early alerts raised by NAFDAC helped to curtail free circulation of the implicated Heparin drug distributed by Baxter International US and Heparin-Rotex-Medica manufactured by Rotetexmedical GMBH Arzeimittelwerk in Germany. The nationwide alert more importantly enabled both health care practitioners and the general public to be on the look out for the contaminated drug.

By so doing, the body averted fatalities of any kind. In two other related circumstances superintended over by NAFDAC, namely the ban on conventional plastic disposable syringes (to be replaced by auto-disposable syringes), and de-registration of aluminum phosphide and magnesium pesticides over wrong use and frequent food poisoning. The regulatory agency demonstrated due vigilance and subsequently clamped down on all such implicated products harmful to man.

Meanwhile, agro-chemical industries affected by the ban were given up to March 31, 2009 to phase out those range of products, hospital operators and medical personnel have been enjoined to ensure compliance to auto disable syringes on or before April, 2009 at end of which prosecution would commence against offenders in court.

While these are clear evidences of proactive service and competence in overseeing the food and drug sub-sector of the nation's health needs, it is not likely that NAFDAC alone can win the war against importation of lethal drugs banned by NAFDAC.

The way out is to borrow a leaf from the official remarks of United Nations Health and Food Bureau which said: "Food safety is not the sole responsibility of public authorities. Everyone in the food chain is also responsible for ensuring a safe supply of food to the world".

This goes without saying that all hands must be on deck in partnership with NAFDAC to effectively man the various border posts against importation of harmful or unregistered food and drugs that are currently taking the lives of babies and adults across China. A stitch in time saves nine.

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