Agency The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, stakeholders in the food sector and partners have presented the revised National Policy on Food Safety and Quality and its Implementation Plan. The presentation was made on Friday in Abuja as part of activities to commemorate the 2024 World Food Safety Day with the theme ‘Food Safety: Prepare for the Unexpected’. The 2024 theme, it was noted draws attention to food safety management and underlines the importance of being prepared for food safety incidents, no matter how mild or severe they can be.
Also inaugurated were four inter-sectoral Technical Working Groups to provide expertise and leadership to drive effective communication, capacity building and strategic partnerships among stakeholders. The TWGs are part of continued efforts to strengthen and harmonise Nigeria’s regulatory environment and risk-based food safety systems, while improving industry engagement in the national regulatory processes and compliance with international food safety standards. The groups are also focused on risk-based regulations and risk analysis in food and feed safety; food and Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary inspection; traceability and supporting technologies and education and research.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that World Food Safety Day, marked on June 7, every year, was earmarked by the World Health Organisation. According to WHO, every year, nearly one in 10 people in the world, an estimated 600 million people fall ill and 420,.