Innovation, Minister of Science and Technology Geoffrey Nnaji said 200,000 Nigerians die every year due to foodborne illness. He warned that the federal government will now go all out to those engaged in illegal and immoral activities of food pollution and adulteration. NNAJI said that World Health Organization (WHO) statistics show that over 600,000 people worldwide have caused 200,000 people to have food illnesses, killing 200,000, most in Nigeria, with deaths across sub-Saharan Africa of 420,000. The minister said at the official launch of the Food Safety Operation Manual and Food Safety Officer in Abuja that his ministry and institutions, especially the Nigerian Food Science and Technology Commission (NICOFST), are currently strengthening regulatory oversight throughout the country, where food safety supervision is the weakest. NNAJI was represented by Professor Samson Duna, Director General of the Nigerian Institute of Architecture and Highways, who said that food safety is not just a health issue, but a national security priority, development is imperative and catalysts for inclusive growth in consistency with President Bola Ahmed Tinubus to regain hope. According to him, Food Safety is a science-driven enterprise and directs its institutions and research institutions to develop cost-effective technologies to protect food preservation and quality assurance at the ministry, promotes indigenous innovations in culinary diversity in Nigeria, respects Nigeria’s culinary diversity and deploys mobile and digital training to provide mobile and digital training tools among informal food suppliers in rural and urban areas. These are daily meals for Nigerians at all income levels, and the risk is usually the most significant space, he said. From immoral use of paracetamol to tender meat, to cassava fermentation with detergents, and the blending of red oil and pepper with industrial dyes like Sultan IV, we witnessed a quiet war on public health. These are not cultural mistakes, they are criminal acts. As expressly provided under Articles 243 and 244 of the Nigerian Criminal Law Act, the sale or distribution of toxic or harmful food is a punishment offence. He added that the consequences of this practice are devastating, such as increasing the incidence of kidney failure, cirrhosis, cancer and other weak noncommunicable diseases. According to the minister, cholera claimed 378 lives in the first quarter of 2025 alone, while Lassa Fever infected more than 3,500 Nigerians, and many cases were linked to rodents and impoverished sanitary food contamination. This must stop. He added that the manual is an important step to make sure it is indeed so. Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, Minister of Coordination for Health and Social Welfare, said the latest research by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GANE) shows that about 20% of hospitalizations in urban areas can be attributed to food-borne diseases. Each year, 200,000 Nigerians die from foodborne diseases ministers, first appearing on Linda Ikeji’s blog.
Source link
200,000 Nigerians die from foodborne diseases every year – Minister
