NAFDAC debunks allegation of lacking testing lab for food fortification

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has debunked a news publication in the online media alleging the non-establishment of a testing laboratory for food fortification.

A statement by NAFDAC Resident Media Consultant, Mr. Olusayo Akintola, in Abuja on Monday stated that the attention of the agency was drawn to the Sept. 30 publication by “Flowerbud NEWS” in respect of the subject matter.

Akintola stated that the publication claimed that this assertion was made by the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) in collaboration with the Civil Society Legislative Advisory Centre (CSLAC) and eHealth.

The resident media consultant, however, debunked the position of the organisations about NAFDAC, saying it has laboratories for the analysis of micronutrients in foods.

“I wish to state unequivocally that NAFDAC has laboratories for analyses of micronutrients in food and has been conducting an annual survey on food fortification in Nigeria for the past years.

“Particularly, the Central Food Laboratory has international-accredited micronutrient laboratory units with state-of-the-art equipment.

“The laboratory has vitamin units for testing vitamins in food, which include vitamin premix and fortified food vehicles.

“Vitamins tested include fat-soluble Vitamin A and water-soluble thiamine, riboflavin, biotin, pyridoxine hydrochloride, cyanocobalamin, and folate.

“This unit is equipped with the latest versions of Agilent and Chromaster brands of High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).

“The laboratory has a metal unit equipped with the latest models of atomic absorption spectrometers (AAS), inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometers (ICP-OES), and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometers (ICP-MS),” he said.

He stated that the metal unit analyses all the nutritional and heavy toxic metals in foods, including the fortification vehicles.

He said that the units have well-trained staff that are technically equipped to handle the equipment for the analysis of micronutrients using internationally accepted protocols.

According to him, the test scopes of the units have been accredited by the American National Accreditation Board (ANAB) since 2018, and this has been sustained and renewed annually.

He said that this fact can be verified on the ANAB website.

Akintola said that the laboratory, along with other NAFDAC laboratories in other parts of the country, handles over 10,000 samples of fortified foods in the 2023 Food Fortification Survey.

He disclosed that the results of the samples are presented to the National Fortification Alliance (NFA), adding that the NFA consists of representatives of the industries of flour mills, sugar processing, and vegetable oil.

Others, according to him, are government and regulatory agencies and donor partners.

Akintola said that NAFDAC has never contracted the analysis of its micronutrients or any parameter of its regulated products to a private laboratory since the assumption of the office of Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye as its Director-General.