APPREHENSION spread across the country recently with the shocking news that Malaysia and Taiwan had detected injurious components in one of the Indomie noodles brands. Health officials in the two Asian countries said they had detected ethylene oxide, a compound in Indomie ‘Special Chicken’ flavour noodles. It is feared that the compound causes cancer. Though no such contamination has been found in domestic noodles, the popularity of noodles in Nigeria and of the Indomie brand, especially among children, demands swift, decisive action, including where necessary, product recalls, and thorough clinical investigation.
In line with standard practice, Malaysia’s health authorities, after undertaking tests, immediately issued a directive to hold, test and release the Indomie Special Chicken Flavour instant noodles products from Malaysia at all entry points of the country and urged its manufacturer to voluntarily recall them from Malaysia and Taiwan.
The shock waves of the finding reached Nigeria and rightly so. Since it was first introduced into the country in 1988 with the Indomie brand name, Nigeria has become the 11th largest noodles market in the world, according to the World Instant Noodles Association. They have gained acceptance due to their affordability, convenience, taste and claimed nutritional value.
Noodles meal can be ready in five minutes, which explains its attraction to children, students, workers, and urban dwellers. Statistics are rare, but a survey by a Lagos-based newspaper said nine out of 10 Nigerians below age 35, are frequent consumers.
Moreover, the instant noodles market is growing, providing a staple for millions, and generating jobs, income, and taxes. One estimate puts the value of Nigeria’s noodles market in 2020 at N190 billion. The global instant noodles market was estimated at $54.6 billion in 2022 and is forecast to rise to $81.84 billion by 2029; the current Africa region’s share of 4.0 per cent is projected to rise faster, driven largely by the Nigerian market, where several other producers and brands compete. The locally made noodles had been certified safe by NAFDAC.
Nigeria’s authorities must therefore act very fast and effectively; to ascertain first that the product is not in the market, and next, to further allay public apprehension. Reassuringly, both the regulator and the maker of Indomie in Nigeria, Dufil Prima Foods Plc, have said the alleged poisonous variant is not registered in Nigeria for sale. The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has also promptly reiterated its subsisting ban on its importation.
Its Director-General, Mojisola Adeyeye, explained that the agency had commenced sampling and analysis of other Indomie noodles flavours, including their seasonings for the presence of ethylene oxide. She insisted that noodles are on the government’s import prohibition list and are, therefore, not permitted for importation.
“Indomie instant noodles products and other brands of noodles registered by NAFDAC for sale in Nigeria are manufactured locally and are only granted NAFDAC registration status following a strict regulatory regime covering all aspects of Good Manufacturing Practice,” she said.
To this end, Indomie produced in Nigeria has so far been given a clean bill of health for now. Smuggled noodles are another matter. Indomie Taiwan and Indomie Malaysia are also claimed to be separate entities from Nigerian producers.
Adeyeye declared, “We use this medium to assure the public that a thorough investigation of the products will be conducted at the factory and market levels, and our findings will be communicated.”
The agency should go further to revitalise its systems, targeting all other foods coming into the country. This is imperative given the volume of smuggled foreign food brands and their ubiquity in the market.
In 2017, the Ministry of Finance banned 25 items from being imported into Nigeria. These included frozen poultry products, spaghetti/noodles, refined vegetable oil, paracetamol tablet syrups, chloroquine tablet and syrups, bird eggs, pork/beef, cane or beet sugar and chemically pure sucrose, and colouring matter. Despite the ban, many of these items are readily available in the market.
The Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Operations Unit, on May 5, 2023, said it seized N746.2 million worth of goods smuggled into the country from the Republic of Benin and arrested 10 suspects. The Area Controller of the unit, Hussein Ejibunu,in a breakdown of the seizures made in April 2023, said this included 14 trailer loads of foreign parboiled rice, 2,428 X 25 litres of premium motor spirit, and 221 cartons of foreign frozen poultry.
NAFDAC should track any imported banned Indomie product still in circulation in Nigeria, and in collaboration with other government agencies, apprehend the importers and distributors.
There should be stronger efforts to stop the importation and sale of products that have been banned in their countries of origin.For instance, a popular body cream brand banned in the United States due to the presence of hydroquinone remains widely in use in Nigeria despite having been recalled by the manufacturers.In December 2022, NAFDAC announced the recall of five brands of male sex enhancement pills sold via Amazon and found to contain undeclared Tadalafil/Sildenafil.
Consuming unregulated and banned products pose health risks to users and should not be trifled with. The World Health Organisation identifies the three tenets of food security as sufficiency, safety, and nutrition that should always be maintained. To ensure safety, most countries enact stringent rules.
Continent-wide, the European Union has a slew of legislations under its Food Safety Policy anchored on four main areas: food hygiene, animal health, plant health, and contaminants and residues. Agreements among its 27 members include harmonised standards and joint controls to enforce standards. South Africa has also ramped up its food safety efforts harmonising the regulatory functions of the health, trade, agriculture and forestry and fisheries departments.
NAFDAC alone cannot fight the battle. There should be strong coordination with the police, customs, the intelligence agencies and communities. The states and local governments should reactivate their respective food and health surveillance and inspectorate units to keep Nigerians safe from contaminated food.
