…91m cases of acute foodborne illnesses records annually
By Joy Odor
The Director, Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Mrs Eva Edward in her paper presentations on Food Safety Concerns: Unethical Practices” has affirmed that the consumption of unsafe food accounts for approximately 137,000 deaths and about 91 million cases of acute foodborne illnesses on an annual basis in Africa, the highest estimates worldwide.
She made this known at the Flag off of NAFDAC Media Sensitization Workshop on Dangers of Drug Hawking and Ripening of Fruits with Calcium Carbide in Abuja on Tuesday.
Mrs Eva also said there was an estimated 600 million cases of foodborne illnesses annually while, an estimated 420,000 people around the world die every year after eating contaminated food (preventable deaths), children under 5 years of age carry 40% of the foodborne disease burden, with 125,000 deaths every year. (WHO, 2015)
According to her, despite the lack of reliable and accurate data, over 200,000 people including under-five children reportedly die annually from the consumption of contaminated foods.
The Food Safety Director informed that these foodborne diseases affect disproportionately the most vulnerable of the society, the infants, young children (under five years), pregnant women, the elderly and immuno compromised people.
“Food safety is everyone’s business. Food safety is a shared responsibility (governments, producers and consumers).
Everybody has a role to play from farm to fork to ensure the food we consume is safe and will not damage our health.
“Food Safety is the assurance that food will not cause harm to the consumer when it is prepared and/or eaten according to its intended use. Health consequences of unsafe food can be serious. Unsafe, unscrupulous practices going on with food. Introduces the concept of food fraud.
What is food fraud? A dishonest act or omission, relating to the production or supply of food, which is intended for personal gain or to cause loss to another party. By: The National Food Crime Unit (NFCU )of the Food Standards Agency (FSA)
Food Fraud: a collective term encompassing the deliberate and intentional substitution, addition, tampering or misrepresentation of food, food ingredients or food packaging, labelling, product information or false or misleading statements made about a product for economic gain that could impact consumer health.
The NAFDAC Food Safety Director said in Nigeria, the Pre- packaged Food (Labeling) Regulations 2005, sections 2(a) and 2(b) provided the framework for the definition of food fraud. “A pre-packaged food shall not be described or presented on any label:(a) In a manner which is false, misleading, deceptive or is likely to create an erroneous impression regarding its character, quality, quantity and origin.(b) By words, pictorial or other means which refer to any other product or suggests either directly or indirectly, that the food is connected with such other product.”
The 2022 revision of the Pre-packaged Food (Labeling) Regulations, section 5 (1)(a) and (b) expand the framework for the definition of food fraud:5. Labelling Information(1) A pre-packaged food shall not be described or presented on any label –(a) in a manner that is false, deceptive or is likely to create an erroneous impression regarding its identity, character, quality, quantity, composition, origin or misleading, particularly;(i) as to the characteristics of the food, and in particular, as to its nature, identity, properties, composition, quantity, durability, country of origin or place or provenance, method of manufacture or production;
In summary, fraud (unethical practices) in the context of food is dishonesty, untruthfulness in the description of the food regarding:Its origin Its nature, composition How it was obtained and/or prepared
Some of these unethical practices which pose a danger to health include: Unethical usage of insecticides, antibiotics, and different chemical substances.
The consumption of foods high in salt/sodium, free sugars, saturated fats and trans fatty acids are increasingly affecting health sector indices and have become serious concerns worthy of mention” she stressed.
