The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said it would commence the random sampling of Indomie noodles, including the seasoning from the production facilities and the markets on Tuesday.
This is following the reported detection of a compound called ethylene oxide, a potentially cancer-causing substance in Indomie’s “special chicken” flavour noodles by health officials in Malaysia and Taiwan.
According to the National Cancer Institute, ethylene oxide is a flammable colourless gas with a sweet odour at room temperature.
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye in a chat with newsmen on Monday said that the agency has started investigating and responding immediately to the news.
Prof Adeyeye said, “Tomorrow, (Tuesday) May 2, 2023, NAFDAC’s Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Directorate will randomly sample Indomie noodles (including the seasoning) from the production facilities while Post Marketing Surveillance Directorate samples from the markets. The compound of interest is ethylene oxide, so the Director, Food Lab Services Directorate has been engaged. He is working on the methodology for the analysis.
She also noted that the importation of Indomie noodles into Nigeria had been banned for many years and the products were on the prohibition list.
“What we are doing is an extra caution to ensure that the product is not smuggled in and if so, our post-marketing surveillance would detect it”, she added.
