Safe Food for All

Have you heard about " Food Product Claims" , how often do you see it on food products, which products can have this claim, and what does it really mean or maybe what is it actually claiming (smiles)? Well, relax and learn from  Chidinma Ezinne Ochulor,  a Food Quality Assurance Specialist at Promasidor Nigeria Ltd as she throws more light on this. It has become prevalent to find bold 'claims' on the packaging material of food products. Claim in this context is to declare, affirm or avouch. Food product claims may be in the form of health claims, nutrient claims or structure/function claims. You may have seen something similar to these:  "...contains 5 vitamins and minerals" "... no sugar"  "... can help lower cholesterol"  "... energy booster"  "... calorie-free"  "... low sodium"  "... heart-friendly"  "... contains calcium for strong bones"  The list is endless.  A  health claim  on a ...

  HAPPY WORLD SAFETY DAY!  Make food safe today for a healthy tomorrow.  It is yet another 7th June to commemorate the World Food Safety Day and to encourage everyone to take actions to ensure that food is safe at any point food meets us - as a farmer, processor, distributor and consumer.  It's also a day the government of different nations should reflect on how well they have ensured that food is produced, distributed and consumed in safe manner.  I had the opportunity to submit a video answering the question " what does good food means to you " for the GoodFood4All Movement  of the United Nation Food System Summit, one of my opinions was that "Good food must be safe and wholesome, if it's not safe, it's not food at all". This is very true and if we can agree to this opinion today, we will jointly work towards transforming our food system. No matter the amount of minerals and vitamins a food may contain, if it is not safe, it is poison and not food. The...

Photo credit: FAO Today the 16th of October 2019 is the World Food Day and a very important day of action dedicated to tackling the global hunger in a world of growing population. On this day, different people, leaders and organisations from around the world come together again to declare their commitment to eradicate worldwide hunger. The main aim is to create awareness of the importance of food as a basic human right.  The Theme of World Food Day 2019 is  “Our Actions Are Our Future. Healthy Diets for a Zero-Hunger World” . According to the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), people need to eat healthy diets for a zero hunger world.  It is evident from the theme that the FAO identified the current problem in the world and seek to address it. Due to urbanization and our growing busy schedules, our diets and eating habits have changed. Instead of the usual well-prepared vitamin and fibre rich foods and/or plant-based foods, we h...

What is food safety? Food Safety is the concept of handling, preparing, storing, and consuming foods in ways that best reduce the risk of individuals becoming sick. Its principles generally aim at preventing foods from becoming contaminated and causing food poisoning. Ensuring food safety is a shared responsibility among governments, producers, processors, distributors, retailers, and consumers. In the food supply chain, every component plays a major role in ensuring food safety. What is a food supply chain? A food supply chain is a sequence through which food moves systematically from producers (farmers) to processors to distributors to retailers and then to consumers who are the end users.  Who is a Consumer? : A consumer is a person who purchases goods and services for personal use. So you and I are consumers of all kinds of food products in the market. You may wonder if consumers have a role to play in ensuring food safety. The answer is yes, we do. Consumers have a...

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has directed Nigerian Bottling Company Limited to recall Eva Premium Table Water 75cl as a precautionary step pending investigation by the Agency.  The company being interested in the health and wellbeing of their consumers, voluntarily reported to NAFDAC on June 20, 2019, about a change in colour of the product from colourless to light green and presence of particles in two lots. According to NAFDAC, the  affected Eva Premium Table Water 75cl was produced between 22nd and 23rd May, 2019 at Nigerian Bottling Company Limited, Asejire, Ibadan, Oyo State. The details of the affected Eva Premium Table Water 75cl are stated below: Production Date       Best Before Date 220519.14.27 AC4     220520 230519.15.15 AC4     230520 ''Eva Premium Table Water 75cl produced by Nigerian Bottling Company is registered by NAFDAC and the  NAFDAC Registrat...

An Overview Food poisoning is an illness caused by eating contaminated, spoiled, or toxic foods. It is also referred to as a foodborne illness. The burden of poisoning is a global concern and millions of people get sick from contaminated food. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), six hundred million (600,000,000) people in the world fall ill after consuming contaminated food each year and of these millions of people 420,000 die, including 125,000 children under the age of five years. Thus, this calls for the general public (farmers, food processors, food handlers and vendors, and consumers) to develop food safety culture to ensure that food poisoning is kept at bay at every point. For better understanding, food poisoning is not a situation where someone intentionally introduces a substance into your food to harm or to kill you. NO! That’s an attempted murder. Causes of food poisoning:  Food poisoning may be caused by microorganisms (bacteria o...