Cancer: NAFDAC Reveals Outcome Of Probe On Indomie Noodles

The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye has revealed the outcome of the laboratory investigation conducted on Indomie and other noodle brands in Nigeria following the alert raised by the health officials of Taiwan and Malaysia.

In a statement released on Thursday, NAFDAC said the result showed that locally-produced Indomie instant noodles in Nigeria are safe for consumption.

The agency “assured consumers of Indomie and other noodle brands in Nigeria of the safety of the staple food amongst children and some adults, insisting that investigations by the agency have revealed that Indomie Noodles implicated in the recalls in Malaysia and Taiwan is not in Nigeria.”

It quoted the NAFDAC DG to have made the disclosure during the quarterly interactive session between NAFDAC and the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria.

NAFDAC had early last month launched an investigation after Taiwan and Malaysian authorities said they detected a compound called ethylene oxide, a potentially cancer-causing substance, in Indomie’s ‘special chicken flavour’ which led to the recall of the product.

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Speaking on the outcome of the probe, the NAFDAC DG explained that, “The agency has run all the necessary tests but we needed a chemical standard. It’s all science. We are a science organisation, and our processes are science-driven. We cannot conduct our own Nigerian science. No. We have to use the international standard chemical agents and things like that.”

Adeyeye, however, noted that noodles generally had been banned in Nigeria by the Federal Government many years before she assumed office as the DG to protect the local manufacturing sector.