There has been a lot said about the Sprite and Fanta produced by the NBC. However, not all has been said. The report below gives us some more insight and this should make us be more careful.
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The Benson Idahosa University, Edo State, has faulted the clarification by the Federal Government that Fanta and Sprite beverages manufactured in Nigeria by the Nigerian Bottling Company are safe for consumption.
A Lagos High Court had ordered the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control to compel the NBC to include a written warning that the drinks should not be consumed with Vitamin C.
The Federal Ministry of health had on March 18, 2017, declared that the products were healthy for consumption, having conducted a routine inspection in 2016, through NAFDAC, at NBC, which it said turned out satisfactory.
It had however, directed the company and other bottling companies to include the advisory warning on their products to protect the health of Nigerians.
But the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Ernest Izevbigie, who spoke at a press briefing in Benin, said that the position of the government did not address the safety concerns raised by the court.
Izevbigie stated that the Federal Government was silent on the usage of the colourant, sunset yellow, which he said not only had no nutritional value but also belonged to a chemical class of azo dye, that could be toxic to different cells in the human body and create problems.
He explained, “Although azo dyes do not occur in nature, they metabolise due to the presence of azo reductase enzymes in the body, which reduce the azo group to produce two compounds with amino groups.
“Scientific literature shows that sunset yellow is implicated in cytotoxicity, carcinogenesis, allergies and hyperactivity in three to nine-year-old children.”
The professor of biology and biochemistry also said that benzoic acid, a microbial preservative contained in the drinks, was almost twice the amount used in neighbouring Ghana and could be converted to benzene, “a known compound that causes cancer.”
According to him, the essence of the advisory warning recommended by the Federal Ministry of Health was already defeated, since Fanta and Sprite contained Vitamin C in the form of ascorbic acid.
He said, “You are telling me not to take these products with Vitamin C but you already have Vitamin C in it. It seems to me that the purpose of the advisory warning is already defeated.”
He, therefore, urged NAFDAC to live up to its responsibility in scientific research and regulation, adding that the issue of human safety must override profit.
The Vice-Chancellor added, “There should be a reduction of benzoic acid or sodium benzoate concentration to below 150 milligrammes per kilogramme, as recommended by the World Health Organisation and is obtainable in the UK that has a lower temperature than Nigeria and Ghana which has the same climatic condition as Nigeria.”
[Source: Alexander Okere]
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