Olasunkanmi Akoni, Victor Ahiuma-Young
5 December 2008
WITH the nation yet to get over the large number of death of children caused by My Pikin Teething Mixture, the Lagos State government has impounded over 20,000 cans of an alleged fake tomato paste, Tasty Tom.
The National Union of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUBFTE) has also raised the alarm over attempts to flood the Nigerian market with harmful vegetable oil and related products.
The tins of fake tomato paste were impounded at Ipaja-Ayobo, area of the state, according to the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris. He told newsmen that the fake product was discovered by the State Task Force on Fake Drugs in an abandoned building following a tip off.
Two men were subsequently arrested.
He said the recovered cans were actually expired product re-canned by the suspects and sold to unsuspecting consumers, adding that its consumption is dangerous to health and could lead to death, noting that:"This fake product which was being repackaged in an uncompleted building has an expiry date of 2009 and NAFDAC registration no: X1-0511."
The Commissioner explained that the state government had intimated NAFDAC of the development and the Police have commenced investigation to discover other outlets of the alleged criminals and their sharp practices. "NAFDAC has just been informed, aside that, since NAFDAC official is part of the task force, we believe NAFDAC would take it up from there," he said.
The NAFDAC discovery of a batch of My Pikin as a killer drug prompted the state government to move into various drug markets in the state with a view to uncovering other dangerous drugs and foods. "We are happy to note that we have not found any other drug wanting in the expected minimum standards."
The NUBFTE is asking appropriate government agencies, especially the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), to be on the alert and ensure that harmful vegetable oil and related products are not allowed to enter the Nigerian market because of their health implications.
On the issue of the fake vegetable oil, President of NUFBTE, Comrade Lateef Oyelekan, called on government to place a ban on the importation of vegetable oil and related products, arguing that Nigeria has the capacity to meet both the local need and that of Western African sub-region.
He said: "We have it on good authority that some unscrupulous Nigerian businessmen and importers have imported harmful vegetable oil and other related products meant for the coming festive periods especially Sallah, Christmas and New Year's celebrations.
We are using this opportunity to alert Nigerians and relevant government agencies to be on the look out for these imports billed to arrive Nigeria before the coming Sallah, Christmas and New Year's festivities.
We are specifically calling on NAFDAC to be extra vigilant and save Nigeria the negative health implications of consuming harmful vegetable oil and related products once they are in the Nigerian market. Information available to us has it that the imported vegetable oil is made from animals and is mostly used for cosmetics which is dangerous for human consumption.
Our investigation has revealed that one of the health implications of the consumption of the vegetable oil is cancer."
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