The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has sealed the manufacturing facilities of defaulting food companies after laboratory tests showed that 12 per cent of vegetable oil and two per cent of salt samples sold in Nigerian markets failed to meet mandatory micronutrient fortification standards.
The Executive Vice Chairman of FCCPC, Tunji Bello, disclosed this on Thursday while presenting findings from a two-month market survey carried out with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, which exposed gaps in compliance with Nigeria’s food fortification policy.
The survey examined 200 randomly selected samples, made up of 100 vegetable oil and 100 salt products collected from households and open markets across Northern and Southern Nigeria.
Laboratory analysis found that 12 per cent of vegetable oil samples and two per cent of salt samples were poorly fortified with essential micronutrients at household level.
Of the 100 vegetable oil samples, 49 were unbranded, while 51 were branded products.
The investigation also found poor use of digital traceability systems for monitoring fortified food products along the supply chain. Only six vegetable oil manufacturers had registered on GAIN’s Digital Fortification Quality Traceability Plus platform, while three companies uploaded a combined eight product test results.
Bello said large-scale food fortification is a compulsory public health policy aimed at tackling micronutrient deficiencies by adding essential nutrients, including vitamin A, iron, folic acid, zinc and iodine.
“Consumers must be able to trust the quality of the products they buy and the health benefits those products are advertised to provide,” he said.
“Consumer protection goes beyond resolving everyday complaints or stopping deceptive business practices. It fundamentally comes down to ensuring that citizens are not denied the essential value, safety and nutritional benefits they pay for in the marketplace.”
He said compliance directives had been issued to the defaulting manufacturers, stressing that every batch of food products must meet established quality and safety standards.
Bello added that the survey findings had been sent to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control for further regulatory action under the existing memorandum of understanding between both agencies.