AFBTE aligns with Federal Ministry of Health on safety of Soft Drinks  

 

The Association of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employers (AFBTE), an association of Companies in the Food, Beverage and Tobacco Industry in the country has lent its voice to the ranging controversies over the case involving Fijabi Adebo Holdings Limited,  Nigerian Bottling Company PLC (NBC) and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC)

The Association in a statement from its Secretariat in Lagos, said it was not unmindful of the fact that an aspect of the matter has been appealed by parties in the case and its intervention by this medium was to advance the public interest through promoting the fact on the issue and therefore would concern itself only with issues that are clear and which did not form part of those for determination in the pending appeal.

“We have followed with concern the flurry of media commentaries on this issue, majority of which have no rational or scientific basis. More worrisome is the fact that many commentators have not bothered to investigate the issues dispassionately to enable them gain a better understanding of what is involved, thereby enriching the quality of their intervention. They have instead relished in spreading half-truths and many cases mere assumptions and falsehood. The kernel of these commentators (print and social media especially) is that Fanta and Sprite beverage are unsafe for human consumption,” the statement said

According to the statement, the major strand in the controversy is the wrongly held view that because the level of benzoic acid (an additive which is a preservative) in Fanta and Sprite manufactured by NBC (which were well within the permissible level of 250mg/kg in Nigeria) were high than the level permitted in the United Kingdom (UK), which is 150mg/kg for the same products, the former is unsafe for human consumption.

It further noted that the rejection of the Fanta and Sprite that were exported to the UK in 2007 was not because they were unsafe for human consumption as they met the Nigerian regulatory standard which, itself, was within the international food safety limit of 600mg/kg set by Codex at the time.

It described the rumour that Fanta and Sprite were unsafe for consumption as untrue and unfounded as there was no proof in any form to support the claim that the UK authorities classified the products as “unsafe human consumption”.

With respect to the issue of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) poisonous when taken with Fanta, the statement said,” the point is that this can only be if the benzoate level is above the approved level for the use of the additive in the country, that is, 250mg/kg, in the presence of metal ions which act as catalysts, with the vitamin C over a period of time.

The statement also refuted the information claiming that Ghana with same climate as Nigeria has the same has the benzoic level as the UK (150mg/kg), describing it as untrue as the maximum benzoic limit is Ghana 250mg/kg as in Nigeria.

 

Regarding Sunset Yellow which is a Codex approved Food Colour (100mg/kg maximum limit), the statement said, Fanta contains only 7.39mg/kg which is approved and not banned by any country, including Europe/UK that products with such and some other additives in same category, carry warning labels, as research work are still on-going on them.

It said that keeping the public in the know concerning what the association is doing towards ensuring there is full compliance with regulatory standards as prescribed by the various agencies of Government is very paramount. This is the reason the association has a standing Technical Committee which meets every month where technical issues are discussed and reviewed.

 

Iheanyi Nwachukwu