The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, has called on all stakeholders in the food supply chain to take deliberate actions and imbibe a food safety culture in their operations to mitigate food hazards and risks.
Adeyeye, gave the advice at the 2024 World Food Safety Day with the theme ‘Food Safety: Prepare for the Unexpected’ where she stressed that food safety remained not only important for public health but also indispensable to economic development and food security.
According to WHO estimates, globally one in 10 persons become sick and 420,000 die each year after consuming contaminated food with children under five years and other vulnerable groups disproportionately affected in the poorer areas of the world.
It also estimated that in developing countries about $110 billion is lost every year on medical expenses due to unsafe food.
The NAFDAC’s Director-General, in a statement issued by the agency’s Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, was quoted as emphasizing that everybody had a role to play from the farm to the table to ensure that the food people consume is safe and will not cause damage to their health.
She maintained that World Food Safety Day 2024, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) were asking all stakeholders along the food supply chain if they were prepared to address unexpected threats to food safety in an increasingly interconnected and interlinked global food supply.
Adeyeye noted that food safety remained a collective responsibility, adding that everyone from producers to consumers need to play their part to be sure that the food we eat is safe that the campaign aims to promote global food safety awareness to strengthen efforts of preventing, detecting and managing foodborne risks globally by highlighting the importance of being prepared for food safety incidents.
She described food safety incidents as situations where there is a potential or confirmed health risk associated with food consumption, adding that a food incident can happen due to accidents, inadequate controls, food fraud or natural events.
Adeyeye pointed out that while being ready to manage food safety incidents required dedicated efforts from policymakers, food safety authorities, farmers, and food business operators, consumers can also play a very active role.
According to the NAFDAC boss, the WHO World Food Safety Day 2024 communication toolkit suggests that governments commit to developing or updating national food safety emergency response plans, strengthen national food control systems, increase surveillance and coordination capacities and improve communication with food businesses and the public.
Consequently, she mentioned that the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare had developed programmes for the elimination, eradication, prevention and control of diseases, which include the National Integrated Guidelines for Foodborne Disease Surveillance and Response which is useful for preparedness and rapid response to emerging and re-emerging foodborne diseases.
Adeyeye, however, noted that this year’s theme called for all stakeholders from regulatory officers, experts, producers, to processors, distributors, retailers, restaurant outlets and consumers to consider if they are indeed prepared for the unexpected.
She stressed: “Let us all stay true to the statements ‘food safety is everyone’s business’ and ‘food safety is a shared responsibility’ as we celebrate this year’s World Food Safety Day. Working together we will continue to strengthen our food safety system, ensuring its resilience, robustness and preparedness for the unexpected.”
Speaking on ‘Developing a Food Safety Emergency Response Plan: Implementation of the National Guidelines for Foodborne Disease Surveillance and Response’, the Director of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FSAN), Mrs. Eva Edwards, alerted that foodborne diseases remained expensive, yet they were preventable.
She recalled that in recent years, the global community as well as national governments recognized the public health effect of foodborne diseases as capable of causing considerable burden of diseases and mortality.
Edwards explained that food safety emergency response must be anchored on a multi-sectoral, collaborative, integrated one-health approach across the Health, Agriculture, Environment sectors, the tiers of government including relevant external partners and non-governmental organizations.
The nutrition expert noted that the objective was to have a coordinated approach to investigating foodborne disease outbreaks and contributing knowledge and skills from the different sectors to achieve a robust and comprehensive investigation.
She said that the mix of skills would bring to the fore the robustness of the investigation, adding that the emergency response team may include epidemiologists, laboratory scientists, environmental health officers, and food safety control officers, amongst others.
Edwards advised: “Let’s all play our part in promoting the culture of good hygiene practices in our homes, communities and food establishments. Together we can ensure a safer and healthier food supply for everyone.”
Photo Caption
L-R: Deputy Director, Nutrition, Food Safety and Allied Nutrition (FSAN) Directorate at the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Dr Abdullahi Jada, Deputy Director, Food Evaluation/Food Storage and Quick Service Restaurant (FE/FS/QSR), Dr. Ifeoma Okafor, Director, Food Safety and Allied Nutrition FSAN, Mrs. Eva Edwards, and Deputy Director, CODEX, Dr. Olugbenga Aina, at the 2024 World Food Safety Day with the theme ‘Food Safety: Prepare for the Unexpected’ in Lagos.
