By Olawale Gabriel
A warehouse and shops, stocked with pasta, flour and sugar products not fortified with Vitamin A, were sealed up by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, in different parts of Lagos, yesterday, as part of ongoing efforts to stem the tide of substandard products in the country.

NAFDAC warehouse

Director General of the organisation, Osita Aboloma, said the warehouse and shops contained products that were unwholesome and, therefore, risky for human consumption.

He said the products were smuggled in with no import documentation and registration numbers, adding that they could cause dangerous health hazards to unsuspecting consumers.

Tip-off

Aboloma said the raid followed intelligence reports from sister security agencies and the cooperation of patriotic Nigerians, adding that the enforcement exercise will continue as a way of ensuring that only goods that meet the minimum requirements of the Nigeria Industrial Standards, NIS, or other approved standards, are sold in the country.

His words: “The seized products do not meet our standard specifications, a critical part of which is the regulation on fortification with Vitamin A.

“There were no documentations to show how they got into the country and evidence of being registered under our electronic product registration scheme. They are not supposed to be on our shelves.”

He said the sale of unfortified pasta, flour and sugar in the country is particularly worrisome considering that there is a government policy on their fortification with Vitamin A as a way of preserving the sight.

“Flour, pasta, vegetable oil and sugar are foods that Nigerians consume regularly and if they are not fortified with the necessary vitamins, as provided in the relevant standards, the Nigerian consumers will be prone to blindness and other sight problems,” he said.

‘It’s a campaign’

Aboloma, who was represented by the Deputy Director, Market Surveillance, Suleiman Issa added that the campaign to eradicate substandard imported sugar, flour and flour products in the country will continue, assuring Nigerians that wherever these products are found, they will be removed.

He stated that the importation of these products is prohibited, maintaining that shop owners and retailers are aware of government’s ban on them.

The State Coordinator, Lagos Office III, SON, Mrs. Ngozi Ekweme, added that the consumption of products that lack Vitamin A fortification puts the average Nigerian, who patronises the shops that stock such, at a risk of blindness.