NAFDAC Assures Indomie is Safe to Eat Amidst Cancer Scare Reports
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has allayed fears of Nigerians regarding the safety of Indomie noodles, a popular instant noodle brand in the country.
The agency assured consumers that the product is safe for consumption despite recent reports of alleged carcinogenic substance found in the product in Malaysia and Taiwan.
Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, the Director-General of NAFDAC, urged consumers not to be alarmed by the preemptive measures taken by health officials in South-Asian countries.
Reports from Malaysia and Taiwan claimed that ethylene oxide, a carcinogenic substance responsible for lymphoid and breast cancer, had been detected in the product, leading to a series of investigations on Indofoods, the manufacturers of Indomie.
In response to the reports, the Ministry of Health in Malaysia issued a directive to hold, test, and release Indomie Special Chicken Flavour instant noodles products from Malaysia at all entry points of the country.
However, Professor Adeyeye denied reports of banning the product and stated that Indomie has been on the government prohibition list for many years to encourage local manufacturing.
She also assured Nigerians that NAFDAC has countermeasures in place to prevent the importation of these products from affected nations. “NAFDAC has registered several local manufacturers and the Indomie noodles have been safe,” she said. “The Taiwan and Malaysia noodles have nothing to do with our local producers.”
Professor Adeyeye, however, stated that NAFDAC was not disregarding the reports but was responding to the news as a cautionary post-marketing monitoring measure to ensure that locally-made noodles stay safe.
She announced that NAFDAC would begin random sampling of Indomie noodles, including the seasoning, from the production facilities to ascertain their safety levels for consumption.
