The revelation at the gender and inclusion summit 2023 (GS-23), held recently in Abuja, over 200,000 Nigerians die annually from food contamination is troubling, stakeholders say.

Talking at the occasion met by the Arrangement Advancement Center, PIC, of the Nigerian Monetary Culmination Gathering in Abuja, Messenger Michael Orokpo’s better half and virtual entertainment force to be reckoned with, Osenega Orokpo, stunned numerous when she uncovered that there is high pace of food contamination in Nigeria and other African nations due to undesirable.

She credited this to risky food planning and conservation brought about by unfortunate handling and nonappearance of vigorous and checking food frameworks in the country.

Stakeholders at the summit said many Nigerians were dying owing to unsafe and unscrupulous practices, such as the use of dangerous chemicals like sniper for storage and preservation of agricultural commodities, including grains (maize, beans).

They also identified other harmful practices to include the use of carbide to ripen fruits, tendering of meat with paracetamol by food vendors, which can result in liver or kidney failure, using formaldehyde to preserve fish, injecting poultry with hormones to conceal disease, harmful food colouring, among others.

Orokpo, who spoke on the topic: “Pathway out of Poverty: Closing Systematic Gender Gaps in Agricultural Productivity, Value Chain Pathways, and Entrepreneurial Opportunities,” stressed the need for resilient food systems to address the challenge of food poisoning in the country.

She added that Nigeria could address the challenge of food poisoning through such proactive interventions like advocacy.

She suggested that every food supply chain should have safety cautions in place to guard against food poisoning along the distribution channel, even as she underscored the need for women inclusion in the food value chain, as according to her, about 47 percent of farmers in the food chain were women.

“It is very important to establish food procedure because most of the people who provide food are smallholder farmers.

That is where preparing comes in. Preparing model ought to be given over as far as possible from the ranch to the industrial facility,” she said.

Prior, the executive of the NESG Strategy and Development Center, Mr. Udeme Ufot, said the culmination was conceptualized as a stage for exchange where basic partners from different areas would ponder new proof, and logically pertinent answers for differences in inclusivity in Nigeria.

He noticed that by combining efforts and utilizing the aggregate force of government, improvement accomplices, common society, the scholarly world, and the confidential area, the culmination would cultivate aggregate responsibility and centered activity towards building an orientation comprehensive society.

Similarly, a director with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Eva Edwards, said that food-borne diseases disproportionately affect the most vulnerable of the society- the infants, young children, pregnant women, the elderly and the immune-compromised people.

She disclosed that many farmers and business owners used agrochemicals such as snipers for storage and preservation of agricultural commodities such as grains, stressing that such practice presented negative health outcomes.

However, to tackle the menace, the NAFDAC Director General, DG, Prof Moji Adeyeye, recently launched a campaign against drug hawking and ripening of fruits in Lagos.

He disclosed that consumption of fruits that were ripened with harmful chemicals like calcium carbide may cause cancer, heart, kidney, and liver failures.

Represented by the director of chemical evaluation and research, Dr Leonard Omokpariola, the DG said the agency had commissioned a scientific study on the best approach to mitigating the health hazards posed by ripening fruits with carbide.

However, according to Jennifer Egbo, an expert in food science and nutrition, some of the factors that contribute to the ugly trend include improper processing, preservation, and service of food.

She told DAILY POST that there were numerous ways through which foods, including fruits can be contaminated and when taken can cause serious problems including death.

On what should be done to arrest the ugly development, she said: “The way out is proper awareness/sensitisation and training. We must sensitise people about the enormity of the problem and we must train them on how to do things properly to avoid contaminating what they consume

A United States-based Nutritionist and Dietician, Chinonso Ezenwako corroborated Jennifer’s assertion and warned that unless the government takes more than passing interest in the way most of the foods that Nigerians consume are prepared, including the imported foods, there would be no end in sight to such ugly news.

She also maintained that those involved in food processing and preparation must be trained and retrained so as to reduce the occurrence of food poison.

Also speaking, a concerned Nigerian, Mr. Anthony Ugwuoke, decried the trend stressing that urgent decisive steps must be taken to arrest the trend.

“It’s terrible to think that so many people die of food poisoning every year. It’s important that we take steps to address this issue.

“One of the main causes of food poisoning is the use of harmful agrochemicals on crops.

It’s critical that farmers and business owners are aware of the dangers of these chemicals and take appropriate measures to protect consumers. We need to work together to ensure that food is safe for everyone to eat.

“We should be careful about what we use on crops because using harmful products will cause damage or affect our health. We are the ones that consume the food, so we must ensure that farmers desist from applying harmful chemicals on food crops either for better yield or for preservation.

Food vendors should also not apply harmful substances in preparing their menus, and all that. It is crucial that we act to solve this problem,

Those are things we must encourage. Competence must take the centre stage so that things can be addressed. It is not normal for over 200,000 Nigerians to die yearly as a result of food poisoning; it is a bad omen and it doesn’t speak well of us as Nigerians,” he said.

Dr Uche Okenyi of the Hova’s Place Hospital, Festac, examining the common causes of food poisoning, said injecting certain bacteria viruses and toxins in the process of preparing and preserving foods is a common cause of diarrhoea and vomiting otherwise called poison.

Contaminated food and water are common causes but at times, no specific cause is found,” he said.

He stated that the 200,000 figure could be an understatement, as he noted that over a million Nigerians are affected by food poisoning annually.

This he said, “could be attributed to both personal habit of individuals and the environmental management by the concerned authorities.

Individuals who are careless about personal hygiene often fall victim. Poor waste disposal/management by individuals, corporate entities and the relevant government agencies is also a factor.

“Things like unhygienically prepared food or drinks, open defecation, defective soak-away/drainage channels, and poor management of dumpsites, are also factors.

“Food poisoning in most cases is mild and self limiting requiring proper hydration. In some cases, antiemetics and anti-diarrhoeals may be necessary, and at times, antibiotics.”

He also noted that the high number of deaths resulting from food poisoning is as a result of ignorance or poor awareness campaigns.

He said: “The high mortality rate is attributable to lack of education and awareness on the prompt and proper thing to do in such cases at an individual level, and secondly, to all equipped health facilities that are unable to manage severe cases.”

He stressed that as preventive measures, the government and even corporate organisations and well-to-do individuals should all engage in proper education and awareness creation and sensitisation on the poor personal hygiene and poor environmental management.

“The government has a big role to play in this. And finally, there should be more investment in healthcare, which will equip our health facilities to manage any degree of food poisoning,