91.1% tomato pastes in Nigerian market are fake, substandard NAFDAC report

Facts emerged yesterday that 91.1 percent of various brands of tomato pastes imported and circulated into the Nigerian market across the country are fake and substandard.

Manufacturers of tomato pastes in the country including Dangote Farms, Erisco Foods Limited and Savanna Farms raised the alarm during an investigative public hearing on the motion on the “Importation of fake, substandard and cancer causing tomato paste into Nigeria,” sponsored by Nicholas Ossai (PDP-Delta).

Representatives of the three tomato paste manufacturing & processing companies, namely: Erisco Foods Limited, Dangote Tomato Processing Company, Kano and Savannah Foods, who spoke at the investigative public hearing held at the instance of the joint Committee on Health Care Services and Drugs and Narcotics, chaired by Chike Okafor (PDP-Anambra), alleged that the deadly commodities were imported from China and India.

Abdulkareem Kaita, Managing Director of Dangote Farms Limited; Eric Umeofia, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Erisco Foods and Abdu Ringim, Managing Director of Savannah Foods affirmed the report on the NAFDAC before the Committee.

However, Ikenna Amaechi, Legal Adviser to the 24 importers under the aegis of Association of Stakeholders in Edible Consumer Products in Nigeria, who affirmed that the report on the 91.1% fake tomato paste are fake was an internal memo of NAFDAC was not a public document, hence should be disregarded.

He said: “Every tomato in this country has a NAFDAC number and batch numbers are also a requirement for racing and records. NAFDAC is thus able to identify such products not conforming to standards.

“NAFDAC has not published any report nor indicted any importer to the best of our knowledge for the importation of fake tomato paste.

While responding to the presentations of the stakeholders, Okafor who expressed concern over the influx of the killer tomato pastes imported into the country, assured that the Committee will visit countries where the commodities are produced with the view to bring culprits to book.

He also promised that the Committee will subject samples of the tomato pastes to laboratory tests within and outside the country, as part of efforts to safeguard the lives of innocent citizens.

“We have the list of over 130 companies that deal on tomato paste, any of the companies that does not give us its products in form of sachet or can, we will go ahead to classify the products as fake and sub-standard,” he threatened.

Okafor stated that their was allegation of tomato pastes from some Asian Country by some importers which were found to contain carcinogens and other contaminants that were hazardous, injurious to health and unfit for human consumption.

The lawmaker said, “This allegation created panic, mistrust, fear and is suspected to be responsible for high death rate and the probable cause of the current cause of the current high cost and scarcity of tomatoes in the country.

“Let me state in clear terms that this committee has a responsibility to protect the lives of the numerous Nigerian consumers who could be the victims of this alleged importation.

“We totally condemn these alleged dangerous killer tomato pastes imported into Nigeria and we will carry out a comprehensive investigation into this matter, even if it will take us beyond the borders of Nigeria, including visiting the factories in Asia and other parts of the world to inspect the processing factories of NAFDAC approved Nigeria importers to get to the bottom of this allegation and bring the perpetrators to book.

“I want to believe that this allegation is not true. However, if proven to be true, that means NAFDAC would be seen to have done a great disservice to this country and he compromised representatives/staff of NAFDAC would dealt with, in line with the laws of the land.

Meanwhile, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) imposed N1 million administrative fine on Erisco Foods over an alleged unauthorised advertisement of fake tomato paste products without getting clearance and approval from the agency.

While declaring open the public hearing, Speaker Yakubu Dogara assured that the House would not compromise any allegations injurious to public health.

Dogara who was represented by Leo Ogor, Minority Leader specifically frowned at the “unpatriotic attitude of some companies and individuals importing fake, substandard and cancer causing tomato paste into the country at the expense of the health and wellbeing of Nigerians.”

In a swift reaction to the allegation, Abdulraham Kadri, Legal Adviser of Erisco Foods, told the committee that the company alongside Dangote Farms and Savanna Farms were not at the public hearing because of the financial damage substandard and fake tomato pastes had caused the country but also the jobs lost.

He said if fake importation was not checked, farmers would lose their jobs.

In his submission, Eric Umeofia, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Officer of Erisco Foods, urged the committee to initiate a law or motion for immediate suspension of all tomato importation into Nigeria for allegedly being substandard to ensure backward integration into tomato plantations and processing.

He alleged that his company had been threatened by the regulatory agencies threatening to close down his company, adding hat NAFDAC served them with a letter that Erisco had no right to speak except being authorised.

Also making submissions, NAFDAC debunked the allegations from Erisco Foods to the effect that all imported tomato paste in the country were fake and substandard.

The acting Director General of NAFDAC represented by Samson Adebayo, Director Research and Services stated that, “NAFDAC under my stewardship has not been compromised by importers of On my way! to concentrate or any individual or group for that matter.

“I wish also to state that the main goal of the petition is to secure a ban against the importation of tomato paste from China to Nigeria in order to create illegal monopoly for the petitioner as the petitioner also imports his tomato concentrate exclusively from China.

“Despite the petitioner’s false claim that tomato paste coming from China are sub-standard and injurious to health, what the petitioner intends to achieve by this petition is selective ban on tomato paste, while his company would be allowed to continue importing tomato concentrate. This is in all effort to ensure market monopoly,” Adebayo said.