Recently, many Nigerians have died from food poisoning and one wonders whether or not there is proper regulation of food supplies in the country. ELEOJO IDACHABA reports.
Last week, news filtered in about a reported case of food poisoning in Kano state. As at the time the discovery was made, four persons had already died while nearly two hundred others were admitted to various hospitals across the state with their conditions ranging from vomiting to dizziness and urinating blood.
This latest discovery of food poisoning in Kano was confirmed by the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC). Its director general, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, confirmed that the strange illness was caused by food poisoning.
“The Kano incident is a case of food poisoning with flavored drinks that has a chemical called dansami. It is very serious because the food poisoning resulted in diarrhoea, vomiting, and hospitalisation.
“Our zonal director, Pharmacist Gimba, is on top of this and our pharmaco-vigilance officers are also investigating what actually happened.
“We’re going to do a lot of testing in the lab to know the nature of this chemical that probably led to the food poisoning,” she said.
The perpetrators of this dastardly act call it a food preservation method in order to avoid having perishable goods. Investigation shows that the ultimate final consumers are victims of this malpractice.
Past cases
This is not the first time that food poisoning-related incidents would be reported in Kano. In 2009, there were widespread cases of food poisoning resulting from unsafe yam flour, which led many families losing their beloved ones in the state. Also, there was a reported incident of food poisoning in Zamfara state a few years ago, precisely in 2010, which is another case in point. In that incident, several children in the North suffered death until health officials uncovered lead poisoning in children.
In that incident, public health officials learned that hundreds of children had become sick in the North and died shortly after experiencing vomiting, abdominal pains, headaches, and seizures.
The public health medical team came from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (CDC) office in Abuja, the Federal Ministry of Health, the Nigerian Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme, the World Health Organisation, and Doctors Without Borders.
After thorough investigations in two villages, it was discovered that one-fourth of all children in those communities had died from bizarre diseases. The team found unsafe levels of lead inside most of the homes. Also, water from the community wells had high levels of lead, the reason for which children in those villages had high levels of lead in their blood.
Until NAFDAC raised the alarm a few years ago, no one knew the extent of damage done by the addition of additives and preservatives to food being consumed by Nigerians.
Statistics by Health Watch revealed that more than 30 per cent of cancer-related ailments and deaths in the country in the last 15 years were food poisoning-related.
A journalist’s sad ending
In 2016, a Daily Independent journalist, Emmanuel Okwuke, lost his life to food poisoning in Lagos. This was after he had eaten banana fruits that were ripened through carbide, a poisonous toxin that damaged his lungs and liver. According to the report, Okwuke until his death was the information and communications technology editor of the paper and was said to have bought the fruit at Ketu on his way home after closing late from office just to avoid eating late solid food since he would not arrive in his house until past 11:00pm. Unknown to him, that fruit took him to the great beyond.
Before he died days after a protracted illness, he narrated what happened the midnight he ate the fruit.
“When I collapsed, I called my wife, but my voice was not loud enough. Somehow, she found me on the floor where I was. I was very weak and was rushed to a hospital by my wife and neighbours, as I was told later.
“I didn’t know where I was until the following day. I was told by the doctor that I had food poisoning. And from the test and everything, it was discovered that it was the banana that I ate the previous night that caused the crisis. My wife, Julie, brought the remaining banana and subsequent tests revealed that they had carbide,” he said.
Unavailable data
According to Health Watch Monitor, “Because of poor data collection in Nigeria and the absence of surveillance systems, it is difficult to reach an accurate picture of the burden of food-borne diseases.
“However, there are some evidences that these illnesses contribute to ill health and death in the country and there is evidence of unsafe food practices by caterers and food handlers in various settings.”
It noted further that, “Food poisoning usually manifests as fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhoea and is most commonly caused by salmonella, escherichia coli and campylobacter.”
Banned products
In what it referred to as ‘Death in Small Doses,’ the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) noted that, “Investigation has shown that some of the chemicals that were banned 12 years ago and those that were recently considered too unsafe by the government to be sold in open markets are still very much available in various markets around the country.
“Pesticides, fungicides, herbicides and other chemicals can be found in the open markets. The chemicals are used on foods such as grains, cereals, legumes and later taken to the market against approved duration when the potency of the chemicals should have worn off.”
It added that, “While the administration of some of the chemicals is allowed at permissible levels for food storage to avoid post-harvest losses, those who administer the chemical on the food items are untrained to do so.”
NAFDAC’s concerns
Also, related to this is what Professor Adeyeye identified at a recent workshop in Abuja about the trucks used in transporting fertilisers and other agro-chemicals/hazardous materials also for the transportation of grains and other food commodities including the use of petroleum tankers for transporting vegetable oil, water and other food products.
At the workshop, she listed unhygienic practices by some vendors to include artificial ripening of fruits using unapproved agents such as calcium, unapproved insecticide such as sniper for the preservation of grains and use of containers contaminated with hazardous chemicals such as fertiliser bags for grains or chemical drums and jerry cans for food storage purposes.
“Display of food products in the sun could produce harmful by-products such as benzene in soft drinks. Mock packs for display, use of cast iron as food processing machines or equipment and utilities which contaminate foods being processed with lead and other heavy metal storage to protect food product from infestation by rodents and pests as well as prevention of contamination and degradation due to environmental factors, are not good for human consumption.
“Others are adulteration of palm oil with Sudan IV (azo dye) which is a dangerous practice that puts the lives of millions of Nigerians and others at risk and food fraud which includes packaging of illicit alcohol falsely labelled and sold as spirit drinks thereby exposing consumers to high level of contaminants such as methanol, which could sometimes claim innocent lives, are serious concerns for this agency.”
Investigations showed that despite the advocacy by relevant agencies on indiscriminate use of pesticides to eliminate destructive insects attacking foodstuffs, the practice has continued to persist among many traders.
It was also discovered that the phenomenon of lacing grains, especially beans, with harmful chemicals in a bid to keep insects at bay has been a recurring decimal in the country from time immemorial. There were instances where hapless consumers have fallen victim of such unwholesome practices by traders who are always bent on preserving their goods at the expense of innocent consumers. The unfortunate ones, including whole families, have either suffered severe health complications or lost their lives in the process.
A couple of years ago, three traders of the same parents, Faith, Sunday and Chijoke, were caught spraying sniper on beans in their shop located along Adenekan Street, Alagbado area of Lagos state and were promptly arrested after being spotted by a vigilance woman.
It is important to note that beans is in high and constant demand by Nigerians, providing popular meals like moin-moin and bean cakes as well as beans soup. It is perhaps the most vulnerable of the grains to destructive insects like weevils. Because it is in high demand, traders go the extra-mile to preserve the commodity in order to avoid losing their investment to rampaging insects.
The NAFDAC boss enjoined consumers to be vigilant and report any such suspicious activities to the nearest NAFDAC office, saying, “When you notice that your grains or beans have traces of agro-chemicals, please do not buy or eat it. Wash before cooking. It is safer than just cooking without washing.”
CPC’s warnings
On his part, the director-general of CPC, Mr. Babatunde Irukera, had also warned Nigerians to be careful and parboil their beans extensively before consuming it as there are credible intelligence reports that some retailers used harmful chemicals to preserve beans from being attacked by insects.
“CPC has confirmed that some traders, mostly in the open market, are using a pesticide, 2.2 – Dichlorovinyl Dimenthyl Phosphate (DDVP) compound otherwise known as sniper to preserve beans, and more particularly to eliminate or protect the grains from weevils,” he said.
Irukera, therefore, cautioned traders on the dangers of using unauthorised chemicals to preserve food items, but however pointed out that cooking significantly reduces the risk of exposure to pesticides. He assured that most of them diminish under extended period of direct heat in excess of 100 degrees.
Remedial measures
Beyond raising constant alarms and warning signals to consumers, the general consensus of opinion is that henceforth, traders who lace grains with killer pesticides should be treated like criminals who market adulterated drugs that can kill or harm consumers. Also, appropriate sanctions should be meted out to them such as seizure of their goods and sealing of their shops. They should also be made to face the full wrath of the law in order to serve as a deterrent to other traders who are only concerned about selling their goods at the expense of human lives. Farmers and traders that lace foodstuff with chemicals are in the same dangerous class as manufacturers and marketers of counterfeit medications. While the latter are patronised only upon being ill, the former are patronised inevitably on daily basis.
It is not clear how far mere campaigns by these government agencies can go. But like the late director-general of NAFDAC, Prof. Dora Akunyuli, would say, “Operators of banned products do not obey campaign; the only language they understand is strict enforcement in the form of seizure or closure of their businesses and in extreme cases imprisonment because there is no difference between an armed robber who kills using weapons and one who kills through adulteration.”
NAFDAC on arrests made
Meanwhile, in view of the latest development in Kano, NAFDAC has arrested the merchants of such dangerous chemicals. In a statement issued by Mr. Olusayo Akintola, NAFDAC resident media consultant on behalf of Prof. Adeyeye, it said, “It was heartwarming that merchants of the deadly chemicals and additives had been apprehended while further investigation continues.”
She warned against adding chemicals or additives to food and drinks to enhance taste as such practice would result in illness and ultimately death.
The agency, she said, would stop at nothing to ensure that only safe food and other items are available for consumption.
According to her, the importance of food cannot be overemphasised; therefore, when dangerous foreign elements find their way into foods and water, it becomes poisonous rather than nutritious.
