The Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFST) has called for stronger enforcement of food safety regulations.
NIFST President, Dr Bola Osinowo, made the call at a meeting with members of the Association of Nigerian Journalists and Writers of Tourism (ANJET) on Tuesday in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that ANJET organised the meeting to discuss food safety, tourism and the role of professionals in protecting consumers.
Osinowo said awareness campaigns must be backed by enforcement because some food sellers continued practices that could endanger consumers.
“When you educate, you also need to enforce,” he said.
He said NIFST’s food safety committees visited markets to educate traders on hygiene, preservation and the dangers of using harmful chemicals.
Osinowo, however, said NIFST could not enforce regulations alone, adding that government and regulatory agencies needed to strengthen their involvement.
He identified the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) as a key agency in food safety enforcement.
Osinowo said NAFDAC had powers to arrest, prosecute and jail offenders involved in food safety violations.
He said government agencies, NIFST and other stakeholders must sustain awareness while ensuring enforcement followed where education failed.
“Initially, we can show love, but if that is not working, we need to arrest and put action behind it,” he said.
According to Osinowo, the NAFDAC Director-General said the agency needed a minimum of 20,000 workers to effectively cover Nigeria.
He, however, said NAFDAC currently had about 2,000 workers.
He said the manpower gap was a major challenge to effective regulation.
Osinowo said the institute was discussing possible collaboration with NAFDAC on enforcement, including the involvement of security personnel in monitoring markets.
He also called for greater involvement by local governments, saying food inspectors were needed to reach communities at the grassroots.
Similarly, NIFST Public Relations Officer, Olutaller Akinwole, said awareness remained important because some food handlers did not understand the health implications of unsafe practices.
Akinwole urged the government to collaborate with the institute’s academy, adding that NIFST could train people handling food in marketplaces.
Also, Chairman, Local Organising Committee for the institute’s 50th Anniversary, Taiwo Ubany, said food safety required sustained advocacy because many people were unaware of unsafe practices.
NIFST National Secretary, Rasaq Oke, said collaboration was necessary to educate people involved in unsafe food practices.
“Food safety is everybody’s responsibility,” he said.
Former Chairman, NIFST Lagos Chapter, Sunday Bamgbose, said the institute had conducted advocacy among street food vendors and market traders.
Bamgbose said the initiative included educating vendors and providing personal protective equipment to improve food handling.
NAN reports that the institute’s 50th anniversary conference would hold from Oct. 12 to Oct. 16 in Lagos.
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