NAFDAC bans importation of Indomie noodles into Nigeria

By Lateef Taiwo

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has banned importation of Indomie noodles into the country

The Director General of the agency Prof Mojisola Adeyeye in a statement noted that being one of the foods on the government prohibition list is prohibited in Nigeria, and therefore not registered by NAFDAC.

“NAFDAC started investigating and responding immediately to the news of recalled Indomie noodles by Taiwan and Malaysia authorities.

According to her, May 2, 2023, NAFDAC’s Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Directorate will randomly sample Indomie noodles (including the seasoning) from the production facilities while Post Marketing Surveillance Directorate will take samples from the markets.
“The compound of interest is ethylene oxide, so the Director, Food Lab Services Directorate has been engaged. He is working on the methodology for the analysis.

“What we are doing is an extra caution to ensure that the product is not smuggled in, and if so, our post marketing surveillance would detect it.
“We also want to be sure that the spices used for the Indomie and other noodles in Nigeria are tested. That is what NAFDAC Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FSAN, and Post Marketing Surveillance, PMS, are doing this week at the production facilities and in the market, respectively.”

He assured that the public will be duly updated with the outcomes of the investigation.