As Nigeria gears up to commemorate World Food Safety Day 2024 on Friday, June 7, Prof Olugbenga Ogunmoyela, the President of the Consumer Advocacy for Food Safety and Nutrition Initiative, emphasized on Monday that food safety has evolved into a critical issue that transcends both national and international boundaries, emphasizing that it is a concern that “concerns everyone.”

He further pointed out that Nigeria’s inadequate food safety practices, lack of hygiene, and insufficient traceability, alongside the prevalent levels of concealed hunger and food insecurity, pose a significant threat to the general populace’s health and well-being.

World Food Safety Day, a collaborative effort by the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, aims to raise awareness and motivate efforts to prevent, detect, and manage foodborne risks to enhance food security, human health, and overall prosperity.

This year’s theme coordinated by FAO/WHO is ‘Food Safety: Prepare for the Unexpected’.

According to the United Nations, unsafe food poses a dual threat to both human health and economies, with approximately 420,000 people across the globe succumbing to illnesses related to contaminated food on an annual basis.

The World Health Organization discloses that around 600 million instances of foodborne illnesses are recorded yearly, with children under the age of 5 bearing 40% of the foodborne disease burden, resulting in 125,000 fatalities annually.

Foodborne illnesses refer to infectious diseases triggered by bacteria, viruses, or chemical substances that infiltrate the body through tainted food or water.

In accordance with Nigeria’s National Policy on Food Safety and Implementation Strategies from 2014, numerous steps have been outlined to ensure ,

“The lack of awareness of the socio-economic importance of food safety, paucity of data and information on the incidence of food-borne disease outbreaks, lack of understanding of food safety and quality standards as outlined in international agreements and the inability to enforce compliance with international standards and global best practices,” among other issues, are the key challenges facing the enhancement of food safety in the country.

Wakadaily learnt that, the CAFSANI president, stated Nigeria’s 230 million population faces the greatest threat of foodborne illnesses in Sub-Saharan Africa.

He stated that Nigerians, who are “highly mobile migrants and have developed an unhealthy penchant for imports” must be protected against foodborne illnesses.

Ogunmoyela, chairman of the World Food Safety Day Planning Committee, warned that in addition to foodborne illnesses, a significant proportion of the population faces hidden hunger and food insecurity, posing a threat to their well-being.

He referenced a Cadre Harmonise report that forecasts a severe food crisis in Nigeria, where approximately 31.5 million people are expected to lack reliable access to food by August 2024, placing the country on the precipice of a catastrophic food shortage.

“This is perhaps not surprising given the remote issues of terrorist insurgency, kidnapping, and banditry which for more than one decade have plagued different parts of the country, leading to the abandonment of farmlands.

“These are the remote drivers of the deteriorating food security situation, characterized by hyperinflation, and fuelled by the recent removal of fuel and electricity subsidies. We must make it a national priority to get people back to the farms!” he stated.

The food safety advocate emphasized the harmful effects of climate-related events across the country, pointing out that these factors lead to reduced access to nutritious food, increased consumption of unhealthy diets, and a higher risk of consuming unsafe foods, ultimately exacerbating food insecurity.

He noted, “If food is unsafe, it can’t provide the nutrition required to build a healthy population. Therefore, Unsafe food affects our health and has far-reaching consequences for Nigeria’s economy and progress towards achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. This is certainly why ensuring food safety has become so crucial.”

Ogunmoyela added that foodborne illnesses can result from a range of factors, including poor food handling practices, food control issues like inadequate regulation or intentional food fraud, and environmental factors such as drought, flooding, or power outages, which can all contribute to the contamination of food.

Continuing, the don mentioned, “This is why “Food safety is everyone’s business” i.e. ensuring food safety requires collective vigilance and action.

“Therefore, being ready for unexpected food safety incidents requires collective, proactive measures and vigilance to respond effectively, especially in emergencies. Last year, we witnessed how for practically one week, Lokoja and a good part of Kogi State were locked up in flooding and accumulated rainwater. It was so bad as to threaten that State and access by surrounding States including the FCT, but we were helpless onlookers. Now, the rains are here again!”

The CEO of CAFSANI emphasized that governments and industries must develop and implement emergency response plans to address unforeseen events and the added threat of climate change, in order to prevent foodborne illnesses and widespread loss of life.

He stressed that policies must be accompanied by concrete actions, and that all stakeholders in the food industry must be aware of and prepared to promptly execute food safety management plans to minimize the risks to public health posed by unsafe foods and inadequate food access.

“In addition, investments in consumer education need to be stepped up, to build food safety consciousness and knowledge that can help avert problems in such unexpected situations. Consumers therefore generally need to be more aware of how to protect their environment, and how to manage food safety and nutrition issues at all times.

“Food safety is everyone’s business” i.e. ensuring food safety is a collective action. Therefore, being ready for unexpected food safety incidents requires our collective efforts,

The head of CAFSANI emphasized that food safety is a collective responsibility, requiring the active participation of government, food producers, and consumers, particularly during crisis situations, to ensure the safety of the food supply chain.