The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has intervened in the conversations about genetically modified organisms (GMOs), assuring Nigerians that GMO foods are safe but need proper labelling.

“GMOs are genetically modified foods when it comes to food, and they are not bad for us. They are not bad for us, depending on what type of foods they are and whether the safety considerations have been taken,” NAFDAC’s Director-General, Mojisola Adeyeye, affirmed on Channels Television’s breakfast show, Sunrise Daily, on Thursday.

Adeyeye, a pharmacist and professor, believes proper labelling of GMO foods by marketers is essential for the consuming public.

“The National Biosafety Management Agency, NBMA, is the agency charged with ensuring the safety of foods that have GMOs. We work in collaboration with them,” the NAFDAC chief said.

Asked what Nigerians can do to ensure that the food they consume is healthy for them, Adeyeye explained, “I’m a food freak. I want to know what I’m eating is going to give me a good health outcome.

“I look at the label. I want to be sure that NAFDAC’s label is on it, or if I’m outside the country, well, I don’t do a lot of shopping now, but before my time in NAFDAC, when I had all the time. I would look at the label. And it’s supposed to have ‘genetically modified food’ written on it.

“We work in collaboration with the Biosafety Management Agency. We have an MoU with them. They are mandated to ensure that the foods that have GMOs are of quality, they are safe, and they are efficacious.”