The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has stated that all Indomie noodles manufactured in Nigeria are safe for consumption after conducting research into the presence of ethylene oxide or its metabolite in noodles and their spices.
On Thursday, Prof. Christianah Adeyeye, the Director General of NAFDAC, informed journalists in Lagos of this.
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She claimed that all instant noodles manufactured in Nigeria are safe for human consumption because neither ethylene oxide nor a derivative of it could be discovered in any of the spices used in any of the instant noodles made in Nigeria.
She said;
The level of Mycotoxin and the heavy metals were within the internationally acceptable limit. Therefore, the noodles made in Nigeria are very safe to eat.”
Samples of chicken flavoured instant noodles of various brands and the seasonings were drawn from the production facilities across the country.
This was to ensure that the investigation was robust, covering other instant noodles brands manufactured in Nigeria, besides Indomie, the implicated brand.
The Post Marketing Surveillance Division also visited markets/retail outlets in the major cities of Lagos, Abuja, and Kano and drew samples of instant noodles for laboratory analysis.
The market visits served as surveillance for the presence of the Taiwan and Malaysian special chicken noodles in the Nigerian market.
The samples drawn from production facilities and trade were properly packaged and delivered in good condition to our Central Laboratory, Oshodi, Lagos, where analytical activities commenced immediately in accordance with international standards and methods of analysis.
Speaking further, Adeyeye noted that the agency deployed the technique using Gas Chromatography with a Mass Spectrometry detector, adding that a total of 114 samples of instant noodles and seasonings were received.
She explained that the compound of interest, ethylene oxide, is a colourless, odourless gas that is used to sterilise medical devices and has been implicated as a cancer-causing chemical.
The investigation was occasioned by the recalls of Indomie Instant Noodles ‘Special Chicken Flavour’ by the Ministries of Health in Malaysia and Taiwan on account of the alleged presence of ethylene oxide, a compound associated with an increased risk of cancer.
