From Victor Nwegede, Abakaliki
The United States Agency for International Development - Integrated Health Program (USAID-IHP) and other advancing partners have preached against the consumption of the food synthetic sauces due to their health-hazardous effects on the human body system.
This was among the fundamental issues raised while commemorating the 2022 World Food Safety Day by the health-benefiting organisations in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State Capital.
Our correspondent reports that World Food Safety Day is observed on June 7, annually.
The organizations during the event spotted smoked foods and unhygienic surroundings with the usage of unnatural flavours as the enhancers in food preparation as the spur of cancer and other related diseases, now prevalent in the society.
Interacting with journalists, the IHP Technical Director in Ebonyi State, Oladipo Akinmade, pointed out the unique nature of the food-related issues, saying, "Lassa fever has been very recurrent majorly because of exposure of simple foods like garri to rats and their waste."
He recalled that Ebonyi State had repeated cases of Cholera and Diarrhea diseases in the past, underlining "these diseases related to food safety and hygiene," while calling for the collective effort of all partners in the health sector, including other stakeholders to address the issues.
The Chairperson of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN) in Ebonyi State, Nwabumma Asuzu, among other experts that spoke at the occasion, urged every household, food vendor and hotelier to use natural and organic sauces in food preparation instead of artificial spices in enhancing the food tastes as a way of fighting food borne diseases.
Asusu pointed out that, with an estimated 600 million cases of food-borne illnesses annually worldwide, unsafe food is a threat to human health and economies, disproportionally affecting vulnerable and marginalized people, especially women and children as well as populations affected by conflict and migrants in the society.
She also revealed that an estimated 420, 000 people around the world die every year after eating contaminated food and children under 5 years of age carry 40 per cent of the food-borne disease burden, with 125 000 deaths.
Speaking further on the theme of this year's event, "Safer Food, Better Health," the NSN State Chairperson, said that the World Food Safety Day was aimed at drawing awareness to inspire action to help people prevent, detect and manage food-borne risks, thereby contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism and sustainable development.
Asuzu warned all and sundry against using synthetic flavours, preservatives and additives in food preparation, stressing that the high incidence of cancer and other dangerous illnesses prevalent in society today were the effects of unhealthy and toxic foods.
She equally advised people against the intake of smoked foods as a result of their high toxicity.
"Smoking is a method of preserving foods, but we have to let people understand that there are also health hazards associated with that. When you smoke your fish, meat or other foods, there are some measures you have to put in place to ensure they are safe for consumption. If you have fish already smoked, we advise that you wash the smoked back out, and while cooking, you add some natural spices like Ginger, Garlic, and even what we call scent leaf, which will aid in diminishing those chemicals and potentially harmful substances already in the food.
There is every need to run away from chemical flavours, spices and other synthetic taste enhancers because of their health hazards,” Asuzu said.
Other partners who spoke during the event including the Ebonyi Nutrition Focal person for USAID-Breakthrough Action Nigeria, Kingson Ofoegbu, the State Nutrition Officer, Ebonyi State Ministry of Health, Cyprian Ogbonna, among others, observed that even though Ebonyi State was blessed with lots of food items, priority should be put on hygiene and the right assortment of these foods to achieve the desired nutrients.
.
Ofuegbu noted that the Breakthrough Action as a Social behavioural change project has been promoting 17 priority health behaviours, including adequate and safe Nutrition in the communities.
In his words: "World food safety day celebration gives us an avenue to enlighten community members, food vendors, hoteliers, market women, farmers and the general public on the need for food safety practices.
“Some of those food safety practices we promote in the communities are: keep clean; be hygienic while preparing your food, cook your food properly, at least up to 70 degrees centigrade; ensure that you reheat already cooked food” Separate raw food from cooked food because raw food, especially meat, poultry, fish and sea foods have micro-organisms that can contaminate other foods thereby leading to food borne diseases. Another thing we promote especially for children from 0 to 6 months is exclusive breast milk as the best food."
Recall that the program featured a panel discussion, during which the panellists drew from the Nigerian Institute of Food Technology and other expert organisations and analysed toxic cases enveloping food production, storage, processing, preparation and services, recommending naturalness and personal hygiene as safety measures in food treatment.
The event was organised by the World Health Organisation in Nigeria in collaboration with the Ebonyi State Ministry of Health with its partners including USAID-IHP, Breakthrough Action, Nutrition Society of Nigeria, Ebonyi State Chapter, National Institute of Food Science and Technology, Medecins Sans Frontieres, Feed the Future, among others.
