The saddening reports of adulterated food items, especially drinks being manufactured here in Nigeria keep coming in at alarming rate. For instance, in November , 2015 one Chukwudi Obikem was arrested by the Assistant Commissioner of Police, ACP, Suleiman Dogo at Oke Arin Market , Lagos Island for the manufacture of adulterated Remi Martins, Jack Daniels, Hennessey and Red Label drinks.
Subsequently, on April 8,2017 the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) raided the Ogbaru relief market, near Onitsha and arrested eight persons over their alleged involvement in the production of fake alcoholic drinks. One of the suspects was found to be a nursing mother! The agency also sealed three shops in the market, confiscating adulterated drinks and production materials worth millions of Naira.
Some registered drinks, being adulterated in the market included J&W, Baron Romero, Lord’s dry gin, Seaman Schnapps, Carlo Rossi, Red Label, Hennessy, McDowell’s and Remy Martins. Addressing newsmen after the raid, Mr Waheed Agboola, Assistant Director, Enforcement and Investigation Directorate of NAFDAC in Lagos, expressed displeasure over the unhygienic production sites.
“Factories are not supposed to be cited in markets; the factories are in unhygienic environment and we even saw maggots and cockroaches. These fake products are sold within the market and it is difficult to differentiate between the original and fake products,” Agboola said.
Even after arrests were made, the criminal issue has persisted. The recent instance took place on April 3, 2018 as the Lagos State Police Command uncovered an illegal wine factory operated by a 55-year-old man at Mushin area of the state. The state’s Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, told newsmen in Lagos that the illegal wine factory was discovered based on credible intelligence report.
“Following the information, some policemen stormed Ojuwoye Market on March 30, with a Search Warrant and arrested the suspect. We discovered various brands of wines and hot drinks suspected to be adulterated,” he said. He said that empty wine bottles and labelled bottle corks of different types of wine and hot drinks were also recovered. The prime suspect however, claimed that, “I have my own brand which I produce when I had my factory in Nnewi, Anambra State”. But that excuse is not tenable.
The production and sale of adulterated food items are in gross violation of Sections 409 and 158(a) of the criminal code of Lagos State, 2011. According to Agboola, fake products are largely responsible for the increase in people having liver and kidney problems.“The unwholesome practice must have been taking place for years because we saw receipts, dated as far back as 2006, and nobody reported until recently.” he lamented.
We should be worried not just because of the many yet to be discovered manufacturers of adulterated drinks but their harmful effects on human health. According to an Indian consultant colorectal surgeon at Apollo Hospitals, Chennai. Dr Venkatesh Munikrishnan, “food adulteration is the addition or removal of any substances to or from food, so that the natural composition and quality is affected.
Adulterated food is impure, unsafe and not wholesome. Food can be adulterated intentionally and accidentally. Unintentional adulteration is a result of ignorance or the lack of facilities to maintain food quality. This may be caused by spillover effect from pesticides and fertilisers. Inappropriate food handling and packaging methods can also result in adulteration”.
It does not take rocket science to know that intentional food adulteration is usually done for financial gain. The most common form of intentional adulteration is colour adulteration. Some examples of intentional adulteration are addition of water to liquid milk, extraneous matter to ground spices, or the removal or substitution of milk solids from the natural product.