The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has denied reports that it banned Indomie instant noodles. The agency has however decided, as a precautionary measure, to begin investigating Indomie noodles for harmful chemicals.
The random sampling of Indomie noodles follows the suspected presence of Ethylene oxide, a chemical linked to lymphoma and leukemia, in the seasoning packets of the Indomie chicken special variant in Taiwan and Malaysia.
A statement by the NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, said: “NAFDAC started investigating and responding immediately to the news of recalled Indomie noodles by Taiwan and Malaysia authorities. She said the Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Directorate will randomly sample Indomie noodles (including the seasoning) from the production facilities, while the Post-Marketing Surveillance Directorate samples from the markets.
“The compound of interest is ethylene oxide, so the Director, Food Lab Services Directorate has been engaged. He is working on the methodology for the analysis.
“It should be noted that Indomie noodles has been banned from being imported into the country for many years. It is one of the foods on the government prohibition list. It is not allowed in Nigeria, and therefore not registered by NAFDAC.
“What we are doing is taking extra caution to ensure the product is not smuggled in and, if so, our post-marketing surveillance would detect it. We also want to be sure the spices used for Indomie and other noodles in Nigeria are tested.
“That is what NAFDAC Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FSAN) and Post Marketing Surveillance (PMS) are doing this week at the production facilities and in the market.”
The Director-General however asked consumers not to fret over the South-Asia countries’ preemptive measures
Adeyeye assured consumers of Indomie that the product is safe for consumption.
“NAFDAC did not ban Indomie. Indomie has been on the government prohibition list for many years to encourage local manufacturing,” Professor Adeyeye told Channels Television on Monday.
She also disclosed that the body has countermeasures to prevent the importation of these products from affected nations
“NAFDAC has registered several local manufacturers and the Indomie noodles have been safe. The Taiwan and Malaysia noodles have nothing to do with our local producers,” she said.
