The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has called on manufacturers in the food industry to set up Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system plan in their facilities and adhere strictly to laid down standards or risk sanctions! closure.
The Director General of NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii sounded this warning in Asaba, Delta State during NAFDAC workshop on Food Safety in collaboration with UTOPIA TRANING for food industries and selected NAFDAC officials in South-South and South-East zones.
NAFDAC boss who spoke through the Director, Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Directorate, Mrs. Ogochukwu Mainasara in the workshop tagged International Food Safety-Capacity Building Workshop for Industry and Regulators, said that “NAFDAC being among the top 18 regulatory agencies in the world in the hue of United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), European Food Safety Authority, United Kingdom Food Standard Agency, Food Directorate of Canada, will not compromise food safety: hence the training workshop and capacity building for stake holders”.
He said that the agency restructuring in 2013 led to the establishment of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Directorate due to the high premium NAFDAC placed on food and to adequately regulate the sector, warning that unsatisfactory, GMP, GHP and HACCP will led to closure of establishment after the capacity building workshop.
“Build up your capacity because I cannot joke with Food Safety, 167 million Nigeria Nigerians eat food at least once a day and it will result to unmitigated disaster if standards are compromised. There are food borne diseases and epidemics due to unsatisfactory Good Hygienic Practice (GHP) and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). Nobody boarders to adhere to HACCP, this will not be allowed to continue”. Orhii warned.
He said that the government trust is to build up the local industries so that they can compare favorably with the outside world, noting that the agency analyses export products free of charge and the recent review of NAFDAC charges did not affect local manufacturers.
The three-day workshop was highly interactive with the C.E.O. of UTOPIA TRAINING, Mr. William Thomas and other resource persons taking the participants through the processes of hazard control (HACCP) in food industries. Food industries representatives in all the states in South-South and South-Eastern part of the country attended the workshop. ###
