FG Bans Indomie Noodles Over Cancer Fear
FG Bans Indomie Noodles Over Cancer Fear
NAFDAC Director-General, Mojisola Adeyeye
The Federal Government through the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC) has banned the importation of Indomie noodles into the country.
Director General of the Agency, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, stated this in an interview with journalists, on Monday.
The Nigerian regulatory body took the action amid investigation by Taiwan and Malaysia authorities which reportedly discovered ethylene oxide, a cancer causing agent, in the product.
According to the NAFDAC boss, the compound of interest was ethylene oxide said already the Director of Food Lab Services Directorate has been engaged and has started working on the methodology for the analysis.
Said Mrs Adeyeye: “Indomie noodles have been banned from being imported into the country for many years. It is one of the foods on the government prohibition list. It is not allowed in Nigeria, and therefore not registered by NAFDAC.”
“What we are doing is an extra caution to ensure that the product is not smuggled in, and if so, our post marketing surveillance would detect it. We also want to be sure that the spices used for the Indomie and other noodles in Nigeria are tested.
“That is what NAFDAC Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FSAN) and Post Marketing Surveillance (PMS) are doing this week at the production facilities and in the market, respectively,” she said.
She, however, promised that Nigerians will be duly updated with the outcome of the investigation.
The agency said it will begin random sampling of indomie noodles including the seasoning from the production facilities from Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the makers of Indomie noodles, Indofod, defended the safety of its products, saying all instant noodles produced by the ICBP in Indonesia were processed in compliance with the food safety standards from the Codex Standard for Instant Noodles and standards set by the Indonesian National Agency for Drug and Food Control.
“ICBP has exported instant noodles to various countries around the world for more than 30 years.
The company continuously ensures that all of its products are in compliance with the applicable food safety regulations and guidelines in Indonesia as well as other countries where the ICBP’s instant noodles are marketed,” a press statement by Indofood read in part.
Image newspaper reported earlier that recently, there has been a spike in the number of cancer-related deaths among all segments of the population – children, adults and the aged – in Nigeria and the country’s authorities have not been able to trace the reasons behind the worrisome steady rise. According to the World Health Organisation, WHO, cancer is a large group of diseases that can start in almost any organ or tissue of the body when abnormal cells grow uncontrollably, go beyond their usual boundaries to invade adjoining parts of the body and/or spread to other organs.
Over the last ten years, cancer-related deaths rose to a threatening 17.2%. Male patients accounted for 54.0%, and female patients are 46.0%. Breast cancer accounted for the highest mortality, followed by prostate cancer. Other high killers include colon cancer, ovarian cancer and lung cancer.
Last week, Malaysia and Taiwan recalled Indomie Noodles’ “special chicken” flavour noodles, a development which raised some concerns about the safety of the food globally, including in Nigeria.
This followed the detection of ethylene oxide, a substance known to cause cancer, in the product by the health institutions in the two countries.
Nigeria has also reacted to the development as the agency in charge of standards has set in motion plans to conduct fresh independent tests on the concerned products.
Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) confirmed on Sunday morning its plans to ascertain the claim by its Taiwan and Malaysian counterparts.
Latest Cancer Discoveries in Malaysia & Taiwan
The health department in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, said it detected ethylene oxide in two types of instant noodles, including the Indomie chicken flavour, following random inspections.
It said the detection of ethylene oxide in the product did not comply with standards.
“The Taipei City Health Bureau reminds food industry that our country has not approved the use of ethylene oxide as a pesticide, nor has it approved the use of ethylene oxide gas as a disinfection purpose,” the department said in a statement.
“The industry is sure to implement autonomous management and confirm that the raw materials and products should comply with food safety and health management.”
Following this development, the health ministry in Malaysia said it had examined 36 samples of instant noodles from different brands since 2022 and found that 11 samples contained ethylene oxide.
Ethylene oxide is a colourless, odourless gas that is used to sterilize medical devices and spices and has been described as a cancer-causing chemical.
The Malaysian ministry said it had taken enforcement actions and recalled the affected products.
However, Indofoods, an Indonesian company and maker of Indomie instant noodles, has denied the allegations noting that all its noodles are produced with standard certification. However, Taiwan and Malaysia have ordered businesses to immediately remove the products from their shelves.
Nigeria’s plans
NAFDAC is said to be set to commence processes to test randomly selected products to ascertain the claims before reaching out to the public.
NAFDAC Director-General Mojisola Mrs Adeyeye was quoted as saying this in response to an inquiry by a newspaper. She said the agency’s official in charge of laboratory services is already on alert.
Adeyeye responded: “NAFDAC is responding. We plan to randomly sample Indomie noodles (including the seasoning) from the production facilities while PMS samples from the markets. This we will carry out on Tuesday 2nd May (as Monday May 1st is a public holiday).
“The compound of interest is ethylene oxide, so the Director (Lab Services) Food has (is) being engaged, and he is working on the methodology for the analysis.”
Indomie Noodles Kick, Claim Product is Safe
Reacting to the allegations in a statement on Friday, Taufik Wiraatmadja, a member of the board of directors at Indofoods, defended the safety of the noodles noting that it is safe for consumption.
Mr Wiraatmadja said the noodles have received standard certifications and have been produced in compliance with international food safety regulations.
“All instant noodles produced by ICBP in Indonesia are processed in compliance with the food safety standards from the Codex Standard for Instant Noodles and standards set by the Indonesian National Agency for Drug and Food Control (“BPOM RI”). Our instant noodles have received Indonesian National Standard Certification (SNI), and are produced in certified production facilities based on international standards,” he wrote.
“ICBP has exported instant noodles to various countries around the world for more than 30 years. The Company continuously ensures that all of its products are in compliance with the applicable food safety regulations and guidelines in Indonesia as well as other countries where ICBP’s instant noodles are marketed.
“We would like to emphasise that in accordance with the statement released by BPOM RI, our Indomie instant noodles are safe for consumption.”
Indofoods is one of the world’s largest makers of instant noodles and exports its products to more than 90 countries including Saudi Arabia and Nigeria where they are in high demand.
Why Nigeria should be Apprehensive
Nigeria, a major consumer of Indomie instant noodles, is expected to take a position on the matter in the coming days.
According to data from the World Instant Noodles Association (WINA), Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, is currently among the largest consumers of instant noodles with 1.92 million servings as of May 2020.
The country also ranked 11th in the global demand for noodles ranking, with Indomie instant noodles being the most consumed brand in Nigeria.
Last year, there were alerts by some health experts, Indomie noodles contain lead which can bring about malignancy. With the world utilization of around 102.7 billion tones of Indomie noodle servings in a year, there was a need to figure out what sum is a lot for utilization and whether regulators need to characterize a limit on how it ought to be prepared.
Instant Indomie noddles are known to contain low nutritive substance, high on fat, calories, and sodium added substances. It very well may be astonishing to realize that Indomie contains synthetic substances like Monosodium glutamate (MSG) and tertiary-butyl hydroquinone (TBHQ) which are both synthetic substances gotten from unrefined petroleum. These synthetic compounds are unhealthy for utilization. Notwithstanding, they are used to add taste to the noodles.
As indicated by the assessment, consuming instant Indomie noodles expands the potential outcomes of metabolic problems like acid reflux
because of its high carbohydrate content.