Osun government has called on caterers and food vendors in the state to stop using paracetamol to tenderise meat and also the use of ‘hypo’ a bleaching detergent for cassava processing to induce ‘whiteness of fufu and garri.’
The warning was issued in Osogbo during a joint press conference addressed by the Special Adviser on Public Health, Pharmacist Siji Olamiju and the state Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Mrs. Funke Egbemode on the harmful effect of the illicit acts on vital organs of the body such as the liver, kidneys, heart and the small intestines.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Health disclosed that the dangerous trend in public health was recently uncovered by the state public health surveillance volunteers who were assigned to visit primary health centres across the state.
While describing the act as criminal and one borne of deadly ignorance, Pharmacist Olamiju admonished the perpetrators to desist as it portends great danger to the health of the consumers in the state.
In a similar development, the Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Mrs. Funke Egbemode disclosed that the decision to embark on a state –wide awareness campaign and public sensitisation exercise on the issue was aimed educating caterers and cassava processors and averting possible adverse health implications of the illicit acts which had been on over the years.