The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Administration and Control, Prof Moji Adeyeye, has urged Nigerians to refrain from storing cooked food in the refrigerator for more than three days.
Adeyeye
warned that cooked food stored in the refrigerator for days is susceptible to
contamination by disease-causing pathogens, key agents of foodborne diseases
that can lead to death.
Adeyeye
made this known in a statement on Tuesday signed by the agency’s Resident Media
Consultant, Sayo Akintola.
Adeyeye,
who said this in commemoration of the 2024 World Food Safety Day with the
theme, ‘Food Safety: Prepare for the Unexpected’, urged stakeholders in the
food supply chain to take deliberate actions to institute a food safety culture
in their operations to mitigate food hazards and risks that could compromise
food safety.
The
World Food Safety Day celebrated annually on June 7 was established by the
United Nations General Assembly task force in 2018 to raise awareness and
encourage efforts to prevent, detect and address public health risks linked to
unsafe food.
The
statement partly read, “She however, urged Nigerians to refrain from storing
cooked food in the refrigerator for more than three days, warning that cooked
food stored in the refrigerator for days is susceptible to contamination by
disease-causing pathogens, key agents of foodborne diseases that can lead to
death.”
Adeyeye
remarked that food safety is not only important for public health but a sine
qua non for economic development and food security.
She
noted that food safety is a collective responsibility, adding that everyone
from producers to consumers needs to play their part to ensure food safety.
According
to her, the campaign aims to promote global food safety awareness to strengthen
efforts of preventing, detecting, and managing foodborne risks globally by
highlighting the importance of being prepared for food safety incidents.
“Let us
all stay true to the statements ‘food safety is everyone’s business’ and ‘food
safety is a shared responsibility’ as we celebrate this year’s World Food
Safety Day. Working together, we will continue to strengthen our food safety
system, ensuring its resilience, robustness, and preparedness for the
unexpected,” she said.
According
to the World Health Organisation, an estimated 600 million – almost one in 10
people in the world – fall ill after eating contaminated food, and 420,000 die
every year, resulting in the loss of 33 million healthy life years.
WHO
said $110bn is lost yearly in productivity and medical expenses resulting from
unsafe food in low- and middle-income countries.
Also,
the Director of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Mrs Eva Edwards, alerted
that foodborne diseases are expensive, yet they are preventable.
Edwards
emphasised the significance of food as a necessity for human life, stressing
that it can also be a source of harm if not handled properly.
She
stated that food safety emergency response must be anchored on a multisectoral,
collaborative, integrated one-health approach across the health, agriculture,
and environment sectors, the tiers of government including relevant external
partners and non-governmental organisations.
‘’Let’s
all play our part in promoting the culture of good hygiene practices in our
homes, communities, and food establishments. Together we can ensure a safer and
healthier food supply for everyone,” she noted.
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