NESG Embarks On Food Safety Campaign In Nigeria

The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has embarked on a sensitisation and fact-finding mission across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria in order to ensure safe, nutritious and affordable foods for all Nigerians.

According to NESG the states visited across Nigeria’s six geo-political zones include Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Borno, Kano, Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The NESG has also advocated the enactment and passage of a Food Safety and Quality Bill and urged people across the world to celebrate World Food Safety Day.

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It would be recalled that World Food Safety Day is celebrated annually on June 7, to raise awareness and mobilise action to prevent, detect and manage food-borne risks and improve human health.

The theme for this year’s World Food Safety Day is “Safer food, better health” and it aims to organise and inspire people all across the world to participate and be actively involved in ensuring the availability and consumption of safe, nutritious and affordable foods.

The NESG explained that Safe food is one of the most critical guarantors of good health.

“Unsafe foods are the cause of many diseases and contribute to other poor health conditions, such as impaired growth and development, micronutrient deficiencies, non-communicable or communicable diseases and mental illness.

“Globally, one in ten people are affected by food borne diseases annually.

“Modernisation and its impact on food safety have increasingly become an essential factor in governance due to its effects on public health, agriculture, trade and investment, poverty, hunger and tourism.

It added, “In Nigeria, the food value chain (Farm-to-Fork) is undergoing a considerable transformation as Government intensifies its efforts to improve safety by reviewing and updating critical components of the national food safety control system”.