How to spot Vitamin-A-deficient sugar brands that FCCPC sees sneaking in from Brazil
Savvy shoppers already know the local sugar manufacturers like the Dangote Group, BUA PLC and so forth, but all these past years of the same familiar brands can inspire them to want to try something new.
Not every sweetened whitened grain of sugar stacking up in piles at the grocery store is safe and the Federal Consumer Compliance Protection Commission (FCCPC) has been up and doing, putting out alerts to help shoppers spot what is the real deal. Based on what the agency has uncovered through preliminary findings, the genuine products have identification and a clear Vitamin-A endorsement but the products sneakily getting through Nigeria’s border from Brazil are personal non grata and should be avoided.
Nigeria’s borders are 4,047 kilometres (2,515 miles) long and it would seem that the infrastructure earlier prepared to check all entries can get overwhelmed. That includes the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the officials it has designated to posts.
They haven’t yet built the capacity to see every unapproved consumables entering the country, hence the smuggled brands from Brazil, including Grupo Moreno, Terous, USI S. Joao, Alvean and Arapora Bionergia. The products, which failed to meet mandatory Vitamin A fortification requirements, pose serious health risks to consumers, undermine the integrity of the local sugar industry, and contribute to price manipulation that harms the market that the FCCPC has warned about.
Warnings were issued as a press release published on Wednesday, 20 November, 2024. According to FCCPC’s corporate affairs director Ondaje Ijagwu, who authored the statement, the infiltration of substandard sugar has mostly been observed in the northeast and southwest of Nigeria.
Visualising these regions on the map brings Cameroon and Benin Republic into the picture of countries letting unregulated sweeteners pass through their borders without approval and laboratory tests, and to Africa’s most populous nation.
The products, which failed to meet mandatory Vitamin A fortification requirements, says director Ijagwu pose serious health risks to consumers, undermine the integrity of the local sugar industry, and contribute to price manipulation that harms the market.
Savvy shoppers already know the local sugar manufacturers like the Dangote Group, BUA PLC and so forth, but all these past years of the same familiar brands can inspire them to want to try something new.
The FCCPC notes that to identify questionable goods, the shopper inspecting a supermarket shelf must look out for sugar products lacking normal labelling, including production and expiry dates, batch numbers, and the mandatory National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) registration.
It has been observed that these smuggled Brazilian sugar aliens also are not fortified with Vitamin A, a critical nutrient essential for good vision, immune health, and overall well-being. Without these fortifications, the press release says, there is an opening for serious health risks, including blindness and increased susceptibility to infections, particularly among vulnerable groups such as children and pregnant women.
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The damage is already being done, so what the federal consumer protection department is doing is a mop-up. Getting all the infiltrates off the market. On Tuesday, 1 October 2024 in Nigeria, it was a public holiday to commemorate the nation’s 64th Independence Day Anniversary from Britain but not a particular sense of cuisine.
Even though over six decades have gone by, the British tea culture remains and feels cemented with spikes of sugar to sweeten any flavour. This is why, beyond stifling local content, the right quality of sugar, being that it matters for a nice Sunday morning breakfast possibly before church, has to be protected.
In the meantime, the FCCPC is intensifying enforcement and surveillance in collaboration with NAFDAC, the Nigeria Customs Service, and other relevant agencies. There has been close monitoring of supply chains, as well as follow-up market inspections to disrupt the flow of the prohibited items.
Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.
