NAFDAC Clears The Air On Seized ‘Plastic Rice’

Following last year’s seizure of consignment by the Nigerian Customs suspected to be ‘plastic rice’, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) last week clear the air on the seizure, saying that the product was not fit for consumption.

The Acting Director-General of NAFDAC, Mrs. Yetunde Oni said, based on laboratory result, the rice was found contaminated with micro-organisms above permissible limit.  She revealed this at a joint briefing with the Comptroller General (CG) Nigeria Customs Service, Colonel Hameed Ali.
Speaking  on the quality of the suspected fake rice consignment, Oni said the product branded “Best Tomato Rice” was in 25kg pack size “without NAFDAC number, no batch number, no date markings and no details of the manufacturer.” She said the preliminary result of the analysis was first conveyed to the Minister for Health, Professor Issac Adewole while awaiting the comprehensive result.

Oni explained that the rice was tested based on 14 parameters which are: Floating – Negative, sedimentation- Positive, cooking- Normal, Odour-normal, colour- off-white grains, moisture 13 per cent (within specification), pre-ashing- normal, ash- 0.6 per cent (within specification) , lead and cadmium- not detected.
Others are: Aerobic mesophillic count- 2x10cfu (above maximum limits), mould- 5.1x10cfu (within specification), Coli form- 7.5x10cfu (above maximum limits), E-coli-<3cfu (within specification), Packaging – does not conform to NAFDAC Pre-packaging food labeling regulations 2005.
“Based on the above laboratory result, the product is not plastic, but rice contaminated with micro-organisms above permissible limit. Hence the seized rice consignment is unsatisfactory and therefore unwholesome for human consumption. The consignment upon handover by the Nigeria Customs Service shall be destroyed,” she said.
She, however, assured that the agency would continue to partner with the Customs to intensify vigilance and surveillance activities at all entry ports and boarders in the country.
Earlier, the CG Customs, Col. Ali explained that the consignment was intercepted based on credible intelligence received from the Office of the National Security Adviser, stating that large consignments of plasticized rice were said to be shipped from the far East to Africa.
The CG, who spoke through the Deputy CG in charge of Tariff and Trade, Umaru Iya Abubakar. Said, “As the largest market for imported rice in Africa, Customs took the alert seriously and charged officers to watch out for such imports that do not conform with regulatory requirements,” he said.