FOOD SAFETY BILL WILL BOOST FOOD SECTOR - PROF. SANNI

In the just concluded 37th annual international conference of the Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology, NIFST held in Abuja, with programme entitled, ‘‘Food Safety: Critical Pathway to Sustainable Global Competitiveness and Public Health,’’.

The President of NIFST Professor Lateef Sanni lamented that government politics is one of the things affecting Nigeria.

He said that the government has not been able to control and eliminate food contaminants, thus causing loss of food.

Prof. Sanni said the national potential for local and international food trade cannot be fully harnessed in Nigeria with the right technologies, if the existing poor food regulation is not addressed.

Sanni also visited the issued of the NIFEST bill, and lamented the delay of the signing the bill by the Presidency, said the signing of the bill by the President would bring unprecedented boost to the industry and compliment the ongoing transformation agenda of the president and urged the stakeholders to prevail on the Presidency to consider the bill on its merit.

He noted that without an enabling law from the government, regulators of food industry  such as NAFDAC can not operate optimally. And many Nigerians has lost their lifes due to lack of this law, and it has slackened our manufacturers to meet up international competition.

Sanni stated that “Food safety is playing increasingly dominant role in governance globally in view of its impact on public health, agriculture, trade and investment, poverty, hunger and tourism.

The best opportunity for food companies is that, if there is enabling environment, it is going to create a kind of development, increase the number of food companies in the country, who will need food raw materials to produce their finished goods. And with that bill, we are going to saturate both the local and regional market. The enabling environments we are talking about involve power and good roads,” he said.

The cases of food borne illnesses keep increasing in the country because the government is lax on food regulation and monitoring

He however, pointed that Nigeria is expected to fulfill its obligation by ensuring the safety of its foods and food products to international consumers is guaranteed in line with agreed protocols of the United Nation’s conventions and declarations.

NIFEST is the only registered Non-Profit making body representing food professionals drawn from the academia, industry, government and research institutes in Nigeria.