Safe Food for All

PHOTO: UNICEF The World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year from 1 - 7th August to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world. Breastfeeding provides both long-term and short-term health, economic and environmental benefits to children, women and the society at large. Studies have shown that children who are breastfed for a longer period have better cognitive development than those who are breastfed for shorter periods; this translates to improved academic performance and productivity. Breastfeeding decreases the risk of mothers developing breast cancer, ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart diseases and averts maternal deaths yearly. These are reasons why public health organizations recommend breastfeeding, starting from one hour after birth to six months until the baby is six (6) months old. Thereafter, nutritious and safe complementary food should be added while continuing to breastfeed for up to 1 year and beyond. Apart from the ...

NAFDAC warns Nigerians to stay away from rotten tomato to avoid cancer. According to Sun News, Mrs Christiana Essenwa, The Deputy Director of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) warned Nigerians against the consumption of rotten tomatoes to forestall cancer. According to her, rotten tomatoes contain microorganisms that induce cancer. She explained that “once tomatoes become rotten, it will have microorganisms, mostly fungi, and fungi in rotten tomatoes produce mycotoxins which are deadly and induce cancer, and cause immune deficiency in man and animals. “Mycotoxins are deadly, and can cause all sorts of poisoning in the body,” the director said. M ycotoxins are naturally occurring toxins produced by certain moulds ( fungi) and can be found in food. She said that some research suggested that mycotoxins could also cause kidney damage. According to her, some people think that rotten tomatoes which are cheap, can be consumed a...