Posted on: Tue 08-08-2023

National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), yesterday, announced the gazette of reviewed Fats, Oil and Food containing Fats and Oil Regulation 2022 and Pre-Packaged Food Labelling Regulation 2022.

The move came as part of efforts to reduce rising cases of Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and attendant deaths.

NCDs, also called chronic diseases, include hypertension, heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and chronic lung disease.

Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Christiana Adeyeye, at a press conference in Lagos, promised to fully implement the regulations to protect public health.

Adeyeye said emergence of the reviewed regulations implies that the 2005 versions stand repealed without jeopardising whatever was purportedly done in the spirit of the old versions.

She said World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics indicate that NCDs are collectively responsible for 74 per cent of all deaths worldwide. According to her, NCDs are estimated to account for about a quarter of total deaths in Nigeria, and the probability of dying between ages 30 and 70 years from the main NCDs is 20 per cent.

She said, in real terms, more than 36 million people die yearly from NCDs. Among these, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the number one cause of death, accounting for 17.5 million deaths yearly.

The NAFDAC boss said WHO, at the 2018 World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, called on countries to eliminate industrially produced trans fats – Trans Fatty Acid (TFAs) from global food supplies.

She said the United Nations agency released an action package called ‘Replace’, which includes policy recommendations and interventions for governments.

According to her, WHO has recommended one of these two policy pathways for implementation: banning the use of partially hydrogenated oils – the source of industrially produced TFAs in all foods or; setting limits on the amount of industrially produced TFAs to not more than two per cent of the total fat content in all foods.

Adeyeye said NAFDAC, with the cooperation, collaboration and support of the Federal Ministry of Health, Federal Ministry of Justice, and the Trans-Fat Coalition Partners in Nigeria, have worked assiduously towards achieving the two-pronged pathways.

She said the coalition partners include Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI), Network for Health Equity and Development (NHED), and Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA).

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