ABUJA, JUNE 20, 2016 – The Federal Ministry of Health has inaugurated a five-man joint technical committee on food safety and sanitation.
A statement from the committee issued in Abuja on Monday stated that the committee would also undertake periodic meetings and make recommendations to relevant authorities on how to promote food safety.
The statement said that the inauguration followed a recent memorandum of understanding between the Federal Ministry of Health and a consulting firm on food safety and sanitation — Gourmet to Your Doorstep Services Ltd.
It said Mr Fubara Chuku, National Coordinator, Food and Safety Programme Department of Food and Drugs Services in the ministry, inaugurated the committee.
According to it, Chuku enjoins members of the committee to adhere to the terms of the memorandum of understanding.
Chuku said Gourmet To Your Doorstep Services Ltd. would provide training programmes that met global best practices in the hospitality industry.
The statement quoted Mr Samuel Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of Gourmet to Your Doorstep Services, said the rate of death from food poisoning in the country was alarming.
Citing a report of the World Health Organisation, he said more than 200,000 people died from food poisoning in Nigeria annually.
“Many cases of food borne illness go unreported and unrecognised, yet these illnesses contribute significantly to the burden of diseases,” he said in the statement.
Johnson pointed out that food borne diarrhoea remained one of the most common illnesses and cause of death for infants, pregnant women and the elderly.
He, therefore, called on relevant stakeholders to make food safety and sanitation part of any national health strategy to reduce poverty and hunger.
