| TWO days to Christmas, and with a boom in the vegetable oil market, the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has identified some brands of vegetable oil as being dangerous for human consumption.
The agency said brands such as Turkey, King’s and Leisure oil were not fortified with Vitamin A, and were major causes of measles and diarrhoea in children, low immunity and blindness in all categories of people. Speaking at the occasion, NAFDAC’s Chief Regulatory Officer, for the Federal Capital Territory, Mr. Bola Yusuf, at a market sensitisation said due to poor economic conditions, foods that provided vitamins and minerals were not eaten in the right quantity and quality, thereby making it difficulty to tackle the diseases. “Imported vegetable oil and some locally produced ones are not fortified with vitamin A, for example, Turkey Oil, King’s Oil, Leisure Oil, and so on. “Consumption of these products exposes the victims to high risk of measles and diarrhoea attack in children, while low immunity and blindness are common to all categories of people as a result of this,” he said. Yusuf, however, advised the general public to reject flour, vegetable oil and sugar without Vitamin A, adding that imported brands of vegetable oil are also killing the nation’s local industries “Say no to un-iodised salt, reject salts bagged in larger quantities, buy vegetable oil with vitamin A with an eye logo,” he added. He said the agency would, from next month, confiscate imported vegetable oil deficient in Vitamin A. |
Dec232008