By Amah
Prof Moji Adeyeye, the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has warned Nigerians to stop storing cooked food in the refrigerator for more than three days.
According to Adeyeye, cooked food stored in the refrigerator for days is vulnerable to contamination by disease-causing pathogens, key agents of food-borne diseases, which could result in death.
Speaking in a statement signed by the agency’s Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, on Tuesday, in commemoration of the 2024 World Food Safety Day with the theme, ‘Food Safety: Prepare for the Unexpected’, the DG urged stakeholders in the food supply chain to be intentional in instituting a food safety culture in their operations to alleviate exposure to risks that could compromise food safety.
“She however, urged Nigerians to refrain from storing cooked food in the refrigerator for more than three days, warning that cooked food stored in the refrigerator for days is susceptible to contamination by disease-causing pathogens, key agents of foodborne diseases that can lead to death,” the statement read in part.
“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.”
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 life years.
WHO said $110bn is lost yearly in productivity and medical expenses resulting from unsafe food in low- and middle-income countries.
