National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, on Monday, banned the importation of Indomie noodles into the country.
NAFDAC Director General, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, announced the ban while speaking with journalists.
The Agency took the decision following investigations and discovery by Taiwanese and Malaysian authorities that the product contain ethylene oxide, a cancer causing agent.
The NAFDAC boss who noted that the compound of interest was ethylene oxide, said the Agency’s Director of Food Lab Services Directorate had already been engaged and had started working on the methodology for the analysis.
Adeyeye said, “Indomie noodles have 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 an extra caution to ensure that the product is not smuggled in, and if so, our post marketing surveillance would detect it. We also want to be sure that the spices used for the 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, respectively.”
But the NAFDAC boss promised that Nigerians will be duly updated with the outcome of the Agency’s investigation.
The agency said from Tuesday, it would begin random sampling of indomie noodles, including the seasoning from the production facilities.
Meanwhile, manufacturers of Indomie noodles, Indofood, has defended the safety of its products.
It insisted that all instant noodles produced by the ICBP in Indonesia were processed in compliance with the food safety standards from the Codex Standard for Instant Noodles and standards set by the Indonesian National Agency for Drug and Food Control.
Indofood’s press statement partly read: “ICBP has exported instant noodles to various countries around the world for more than 30 years.
“The company continuously ensures that all of its products are in compliance with the applicable food safety regulations and guidelines in Indonesia as well as other countries where the ICBP’s instant noodles are marketed.”