The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa and other Corporate Society Organisations have called on the Federal Government to gazette the Fats and Oils Regulations of 2021.
The organisations, at a press briefing to commemorate the 2022 World Food Day in Abuja, called the government to put in place an effective implementation framework of the regulation for the good of Nigerians.
The PUNCH reports that the WFD is celebrated annually on October 16 to promote global awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and to highlight the need to ensure healthy diets for all.
The theme for this year’s WFD is, ‘Leave no one behind.’
Speaking at the briefing on Monday, the Executive Director of CAPPA, Akinbode Oluwafemi, said, “In Nigeria, we have peculiar challenges. The CAPPA, in conjunction with the Network for Health Equity and Development, the Global Health Advocacy Incubator and the Trans Fat Free Nigeria coalition use the opportunity provided by the commendation of the WFD to call on the Nigerian government to immediately finalise the process of gazette of the ‘Fats and Oils Regulations, 2021’ for the benefit of the Nigerian public. This responsibility lies on the Federal Ministry of Justice which has now received the regulations.
“The mandatory regulation which would come into force upon the gazetting of the regulation, along with other instruments, would expand the access of Nigerians, regardless of their social status to healthy food. It will also impact greatly on the health cost incurred by individuals who would have been exposed to unhealthy food and its debilitating impacts,” Oluwafemi said.
Also speaking, the Programme Adviser for TFA elimination, NHED, Dr. Jerome Mafeni, said with the world’s population estimated to approximately 10 billion by 2050 and well over two billion people already not having regular access to safe nutritious and sufficient food, the new and effective strategies must be articulated and implemented to address the gap in food security.
According to him, improving access to safe and nutritious food is important, especially for the poor and vulnerable communities.
“Trans fat have been linked to increases in the risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancers, dementia and death. According to estimates by the World Health Organisation, over 500,000 persons died yearly resulting from complications associated with the consumption of foods high in trans fat. This statistic has led to the call for the global elimination of industrially produced trans-fat by 2023,” he said.
On her part, the Nigeria Good and Nutrition Coordinator, Global Advocacy Incubator, Joy Amafah, said while Nigeria has made efforts in ensuring good safety and healthier nutrition, significant challenges remain.
“We, at GHAI would like to reinforce the voices of advocated and CSOs to the Nigerian government, Ministries of Health and Justice, and the regulatory bodies to make this aspect of nutrition one less burden to its citizens by hastening the finalisation of the regulation to limit the consumption of trans fatty acids from the Nigeria Good and supply chain,” she said.
