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In a bid to install proper monitoring and compliance to food safety best practices in Nigeria, a nongovernmental organization, Food Hygiene Initiative of Nigeria has sponsored a Bill at the National Assembly, seeking for an act to establish ” Nigeria food Vendors Bio Data Collection Agency”
The organization, dully registered with the cooperate affairs Commission in November 2014, is into food safety activities as it relates to unregulated food products in Nigeria, there by making food vendors traceability through a result based and coordinated Bio data collection and collation by the proposed establishment highly indispensable in order to correct the various anomalies currently facing the country’s food system.
Speaking with Daily Champion in Abuja, the (ADG) Food Safety and Hygiene of Nigeria ( FHIN), Sani Adama Reuben, explained that the Bill which has gone through first and second reading, will enable the Agency, if established to issue each of the food vendors in the country an identity number thereby enhancing good traceability system through its data base in order to discourage, guard against and mitigate any food poisoning case caused by mishandling of food or sharp practices of in any part of the country.
In his words:”food Hygiene Initiative of Nigeria is a non Governmental organization dully registered with the cooperate affairs Commission in November, 2014.The organization is into food safety activities as it relates to unregulated food products in Nigeria, as you know, there are regulated products and there are unregulated products. Unregulated products don’t require registration form any health agency like NAFDAC and the rest of them, because they are locally made, they are indigenous: like banana, local food in our restaurants, and the ones that are being hurk on the street”
“As an organization, we look at the importance of this project to Nigeria, so we have taken it up as a project and we have sponsored a Bill at the National Assembly, and the Bill has gone through first and second reading, in respect to that, Preparing the organization for the greater task ahead , that has necessitated the call for this professional retraining of all our staff officers, to make them ready for the job ahead
Because food safety project is not a security project, it requires knowledge impartation, they need to learn the rudiments require for them to be good officers of food safety in Nigeria , that is what we are doing here, to qualify them and to equip them to be excellent officers on food safety”
To sensitice our food vendors on the street, to impact the knowledge of food safety on them.
You know one of the challenges of food safety in Nigeria is lack of awarenesses by the food handlers on food safety principles and best practices especially as agreed in the international foundations that are involved in it like Wirld Heakth Organisation Codex and limentarious Commission, these are Commission that have to do with food safety and food security globally” he added.
“So we are trying to bring into Nigeria what will boost the image of Nigeria when it’s come to food safety.
A lot of people reject our local foods in Nigeria because there is no proper monitoring, no compliance to food safety best practices in Nigeria.
There is no proper and effective regulatory oversight on our unregulated products :traditional food in Nigeria, that is the gap this organization is coming to fill”.
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