Bread and other confectionery producers have been urged to always imbibe the culture of Good Hygiene Practices (GHP) to ensure the safety of bread and other allied products they produce for public consumption.
The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, gave the admonition on Friday during a stakeholders’ meeting with the Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria (AMBCN) Lagos State Chapter where she insisted that the Agency would not compromise the quality of bread, a staple food amongst Nigerians, being produced for the consumers.
The NAFDAC boss who was represented by the Director, Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FSAN), Eva Edwards, noted that the agency was sensitive to the increasing costs of ingredients in the production of bread, but that this should not be an excuse to undermine the safety and quality of the products thereby endangering the lives of consumers in the process.
‘’You should have full confidence that you can give your family members bread to eat from what you have produced for the Nigerian consumers. In this case, you would not want to produce what will make you or your family members sick if eaten’’, she said, adding that they should avoid using expired raw materials and contaminated packaging materials and embrace a food safety culture in their activities.
Prof Adeyeye, in a statement by the NAFDAC Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, yesterday, noted that the overall objective of GHP in the food processing sector including bakeries, and quick service restaurants is to ensure the safety of the food from the starting materials to the final products.
According to the DG, good hygiene practices must be strictly adhered to from the beginning to the end of the production process, stressing that the finished products should not be exposed to the ravaging onslaught of rats and other pests in the Lagos metropolis.
‘’Food raw materials, ingredients that are not properly sealed, compromised packaging, infested by rodents or their droppings and not adequately labelled should not be used’’, she further warned, adding that storage and handling of food ingredients, raw materials should be such that mix-up and cross contamination are avoided.
‘’Detergents, disinfectants, engine oil, lubricants should be kept away from food raw materials’’, she noted, stressing that If the bakers’ operations will endanger the health of the public, then the agency will not hesitate to take decisive action.
She added that as a responsive agency, NAFDAC is prepared to support its businesses to survive and thrive, emphasising that production facilities should not be sited in locations that can compromise the safety and quality of the finished products, such as near a cemetery or directly opposite a toilet or soak-away.
She also stated that there is no way the agency would stand aloof while the health of the public is being put at risk.‘’GHP in food facilities cover all stages of the process, starting from the planning stage for the location of the factory. Food facilities should not be located in an area that is close to source(s)of contamination or prone to flooding’’, she said.
