By SOLA OGUNDIPE

THE  Institute of Public Analysts of Nigeria, IPAN, has urged the Federal Ministries of Health,  Agriculture and Rural Development and trade and Commerce, to fast track completion of the National Food Policy.

The Ministries were urged to ensure prompt inauguration and empowerment of the National Food Safety Committee with its secretariat domiciled at the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC.

Making the call in Lagos last week during the 18th Mandatory IPAN training workshop, Past IPAN President, Dr. Dahiru Adamu, regretted that although the institute is tasked with the power to regulate the profession of  the Public Analyst in the country, the body is yet to register a single  laboratory in 21 years of existence. At the event with the theme: Food Safety: An Imperative for National Development”, Adamu stressed that issues of food safety must be based on findings of laboratory analyses.

“Issues of food safety, quality and nutrition sufficiency become crucial where there is poverty, and ignorance which are brother and sister as they mostly coexist. In this case, substandard and unwholesome products are patronised because quality is sacrificed and the consequences on our health is unimaginable,” he remarked.

Adamu said IPAN was greatly worried by the trend whereby Nigerian products are usually rejected on the international market as a result of low quality and standards.

“Therefore, to safeguard our public health and global competitiveness, the issues of food safety, quality and nutritional sufficiency must be tackled head on.”

In his contribution, Registrar /CEO of the Institute, Professor David Oluleye, described the chosen theme as a contemporary matter of major concern in the nation’s socio-economic and security considerations. A sub-theme was on Food Safety Standards and Regulations for Exports and Imports, presented by Mrs. S. A. Denloye, Director, Laboratory Services, NAFDAC, and Mr. M. O. Ibrahim, Director, Product Development, Nigeria Export Promotion Council, NEPC, Abuja.

The  keynote address was presented by Professor Odutola Osilesi, of the Biochemistry Department, Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Ogun State.