The National Agency for Food and Administration and Control has urged Nigerians to stop storing cooked food in the refrigerator for more than three days.
The Director General NAFDAC, Prof Moji Adeyeye, while giving the warning, said cooked food stored in the refrigerator for days is susceptible to contamination by disease-causing pathogens, which are key agents of foodborne diseases that can lead to death.
She made this known in a statement on Tuesday signed by the agency’s Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola.
The NAFDAC boss said this in commemoration of the 2024 World Food Safety Day with the theme, ‘Food Safety: Prepare for the Unexpected’ in Lagos, urged stakeholders in the food supply chain to take deliberate actions to institute a food safety culture in their operations to mitigate food hazards and risks that could compromise food safety.
The World Food Safety Day celebrated annually on June 7 was established by the United Nations General Assembly task force in 2018, to raise awareness and encourage efforts to prevent, detect and address public health risks linked to unsafe food.
According to the World Health Organisation, an estimated 600 million – almost one in 10 people in the world – fall ill after eating contaminated food, and 420,000 die every year, resulting in the loss of 33 million healthy lives.
WHO further said that $110bn is lost yearly in productivity and medical expenses resulting from unsafe food in low- and middle-income countries.
Adeyeye noted that food safety is not only important for public health but is a sine qua non for economic development and food security.
She noted that food safety is a collective responsibility, adding that everyone from producers to consumers needs to play their part to ensure food safety.
According to her, the campaign aims to promote global food safety awareness to strengthen efforts of preventing, detecting, and managing foodborne risks globally by highlighting the importance of being prepared for food safety incidents.
‘’Let us all stay true to the statements ‘food safety is everyone’s business’ and ‘food safety is a shared responsibility’ as we celebrate this year’s World Food Safety Day. Working together, we will continue to strengthen our food safety system, ensuring its resilience, robustness, and preparedness for the unexpected,” she added.
Also, the Director of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Mrs Eva Edwards, alerted that foodborne diseases are expensive, yet preventable.
She emphasised the significance of food as a necessity for human life, stressing that it can also be a source of harm if not handled properly.
She stated that food safety emergency response must be anchored on a multisectoral, collaborative, integrated one-health approach across the health, agriculture, and environment sectors, the tiers of government, including relevant external partners and non-governmental organisations.
‘’Let’s all play our part in promoting the culture of good hygiene practices in our homes, communities, and food establishments. Together we can ensure a safer and healthier food supply for everyone,” she said
