Fred Ezeh, Abuja
National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), said it has observed that companies and makers of consumables goes on “official slumber” after getting certification and NAFDAC number.
The Agency said the case was high among makers of bread, some of whom operate under extremely poor hygienic environment, use unhealthy substances that expose consumers to serious health challenges.
The Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, who spoke at a sensitisation workshop for bread bakers in Abuja, said that NAFDAC has strengthened it monitoring systems to enforce minimum hygiene standards by bread bakers and makers of consumables.
The NAFDAC boss who was represented at the event by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Director of the agency, Clementina Anyakora, said the objective of workshop was to engage the bakers in a frank and extensive discussion on ways to improve standards particularly as regards hygiene.
She exposed the bakers to illegal activities of their members, and also encouraged them to strictly adhere to recommended operational standards, particularly as regards hygiene and quit the use of unhealthy substances that are injurious to health.
She said: “We often carry out routine visits to the bakeries to ascertain their level of compliance to standards. Recently, we visited some bakeries in FCT and realised that bakers become complacent particularly in hygiene after they get NAFDAC certification and number.
“We noticed gross abuse and lack of commitment to basic hygiene standards. We equally discovered that some factories have turned their cloak rooms to bedrooms, while others use theirs for other purposes that violate the rules.
“In raw material store of a particular baker in Abuja, we found dead rats, its droppings, cockroaches and other rodents, an indication of poor pest control. In some other ones, we saw overgrown weeds and heaps of dirt.
“We also discovered that some bakers still use potassium bromate, which is a cancer causing agent, in addition to other bread improver substances which is a health concern to us.”
Chairman of Abuja Master Bakers, Ishaq Abdulraheem, in his remarks, admitted that some members run short of minimum hygiene standards as recommended by NAFDAC, but promised to improve the situation.
He said: “I visited NAFDAC recently on behalf of member whose bakery was shut for months. When NAFDAC showed me pictures they took from the bakery, I was dumbfounded and couldn’t speak more.
“I saw pictures of rat droppings and even dead ones in the factory. Obviously, state of hygiene in the factory was poor. They use uncleaned water for bread production. In fact, it wasn’t an environment unworthy of producing food. I didn’t blame NAFDAC afterwards.”
He appealed to NAFDAC to consider the option of correction and forgiveness instead of regular sanctions and fine.