The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has intervened in the conversations about genetically modified organisms (GMOs), assuring Nigerians that GMO foods are safe but need proper labelling.
“GMOs are genetically modified foods when it comes to food, and they are not bad for us. They are not bad for us, depending on what type of foods they are and whether the safety considerations have been taken,” NAFDAC’s Director-General, Mojisola Adeyeye, affirmed on Channels Television today.
Adeyeye, a pharmacist and professor, believes proper labelling of GMO foods by marketers is essential for the consuming public.
“The National Biosafety Management Agency —NBMA — is the agency charged with ensuring the safety of foods that have GMOs. We work in collaboration with them,” the NAFDAC chief said.
‘I look at the Label’
Asked what Nigerians can do to ensure that the food they consume is healthy for them, Adeyeye explained, “I’m a food freak. I want to know what I’m eating is going to give me a good health outcome.
“I look at the label. I want to be sure that NAFDAC’s label is on it, or if I’m outside the country — well, I don’t do a lot of shopping now, but before my time in NAFDAC, when I had all the time — I would look at the label. And it’s supposed to have ‘genetically modified food’ written on it.
“We work in collaboration with the Biosafety Management Agency. We have an MoU with them. They are mandated to ensure that the foods that have GMOs are of quality, they are safe, and they are efficacious.
“So, when you look at the food on the table in the market — especially grocery stores — you will see foods labelled organic. You put labels [on foods] that are not organic, and people have the choice to buy which one they want.”
Her comment followed concerns among Nigerians about GMO foods in the country, with debates over the quality of items sold in markets across Nigeria making headlines.
While NAFDAC has a role to play in the monitoring and certification of food items consumed in the country, Adeyeye said other agencies at the state level had a part to play in such issue.
“But for NAFDAC, we are mandated to ensure that the food that we approve for the market is safe, is of quality, of course, and it is efficacious.
“So that is the reason the collaboration between us and the NBMA is very solid.
“Without them certifying that they have done their due diligence in their laboratory for desk review or whatever, we cannot approve,” the professor said.
Last month, the National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency (NBRDA) allayed fears over the safety of GMO foods.
The agency’s Director General, Abdullahi Mustapha, told members of the House of Representatives Press Corps that GMO crops are key to tackling the country’s food challenges and boosting agricultural productivity among others in Nigeria.
“In today’s digital age, the distortion of facts has become a major barrier to the acceptance of science,” the NBRDA told the participants who attended a sensitisation workshop in Abuja.
“False claims about GMOs have contributed to public skepticism and slowed down the adoption of technologies that can transform lives.”
