The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has joined the public conversation on genetically modified organisms (GMOs), reassuring Nigerians that GMO foods are safe to eat, provided they are properly labelled.
“GMOs are genetically modified foods when it comes to food, and they are not bad for us. They are not bad for us, depending on what type of foods they are and whether the safety considerations have been taken,” NAFDAC’s Director-General, Mojisola Adeyeye, affirmed on Channels Television’s breakfast show, Sunrise Daily, on Thursday.
Adeyeye, a pharmacist and professor, believes proper labelling of GMO foods by marketers is essential for the consuming public.
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“The National Biosafety Management Agency—NBMA—is the agency charged with ensuring the safety of foods that have GMOs. We work in collaboration with them,” the NAFDAC chief said.
Asked what Nigerians can do to ensure that the food they consume is healthy for them, Adeyeye explained, “I’m a food freak. I want to know what I’m eating is going to give me a good health outcome.
“I look at the label. I want to be sure that NAFDAC’s label is on it, or if I’m outside the country—well, I don’t do a lot of shopping now, but before my time in NAFDAC, when I had all the time — I would look at the label. And it’s supposed to have ‘genetically modified food’ written on it.
“We work in collaboration with the Biosafety Management Agency. We have an MoU with them. They are mandated to ensure that the foods that have GMOs are of quality, they are safe, and they are efficacious.
“So, when you look at the food on the table in the market—especially grocery stores— you will see foods labeled organic. You put labels [on foods] that are not organic, and people have the choice to buy which one they want.”
This assurance from NAFDAC comes amid public concern and ongoing debates about the quality of GMO foods sold in Nigerian markets.
While acknowledging NAFDAC’s role in monitoring and certifying food products, the agency’s Director-General, Adeyeye, stated that other agencies at the state level also have a part to play in addressing the issue.
“But for NAFDAC, we are mandated to ensure that the food that we approve for the market is safe, is of quality, of course, and it is efficacious.
“So that is the reason why the collaboration between us and the NBMA is very solid.
“Without them certifying that they have done their due diligence in their laboratory for desk review or whatever, we cannot approve,” the professor said.
Last month, the National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency (NBRDA) moved to allay public fears regarding the safety of GMO foods.
The agency’s Director General, Abdullahi Mustapha, informed members of the House of Representatives Press Corps that GMO crops are vital for addressing Nigeria’s food security challenges and boosting agricultural productivity.
“In today’s digital age, the distortion of facts has become a major barrier to the acceptance of science,” the NBRDA told the participants who attended a sensitisation workshop in Abuja.
“False claims about GMOs have contributed to public skepticism and slowed down the adoption of technologies that can transform lives.”
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