Nigeria: The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has embarked upon a sensitization and exploratory campaign across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria, in a bid to ensure safe, nutritious, and affordable foods for all Nigerians. The specific states which were visited include Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Borno, Kano, Lagos, and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, as disclosed in a statement by the NESG.
The NESG has also called for the enactment and passage of a Food Safety and Quality Bill, in addition to admonishing people across the world to commemorate World Food Safety Day which comes up annually on June 7. The importance is to draw attention and mobilize collective responsibility in the prevention, detection and management of food-borne risks, thereby improving human health.
This year’s World Food Safety Day is tagged “Safer food, better health”, and is geared towards inspiring and mobilizing people globally to be actively involved in ensuring the availability and consumption of safe, nutritious, and affordable foods.
According to NESG “Unsafe foods are the cause of many diseases and contribute to other poor health conditions, such as impaired growth and development, micronutrient deficiencies, non-communicable or communicable diseases, and mental illness. Globally, one in ten people are affected by food-borne diseases annually.
“Modernization and its impact on food safety have increasingly become an essential factor in governance due to its effects on public health, agriculture, trade and investment, poverty, hunger, and tourism.
“In Nigeria, the food value chain (Farm-to-Fork) is undergoing a considerable transformation as Government intensifies its efforts to improve safety by reviewing and updating critical components of the national food safety control system,” the statement explained.
Globally, one in ten people are affected by food-borne diseases annually.
Shedding more light on the proposed bill, the statement reads thus: “The passage and implementation of the Food Safety and Quality Bill will ensure the protection of the health of consumers from hazards which may be present in food and animal feed.
“The Bill also seeks to establish the general principles of official control of food and feed safety; the obligations of food and feed business operators; and define the functions and powers of institutions of Federal and State Governments to ensure that food and feed safety risks are effectively managed, and that food is of the nature, substance, and quality expected by the consumer.”
The NESG has pledged to work in collaboration with stakeholders in the agricultural ecosystem, and private and public sectors to ensure that food and feed safety risks are effectively managed, and that food safety and security are given utmost priority among all Nigerians.
