Cancerous noodles crisis highlights poor regulations
Indofoods, the makers of Indomie instant noodles, issued a rebuttal on Saturday, April 29, in response to the recall of its products in Taiwan and Malaysia due to an increased cancer risk.
Malaysian and Taiwanese health officials said they found ethylene oxide, a compound, in Indomie's "special chicken" flavor noodles.
It is not every day that what happens in Malaysia or Taiwan makes headlines in Nigeria; however, for obvious reasons, this news piqued Nigerians' interest, with many wondering why the local regulatory agency was unable to detect this looming danger.
Since 2022, the Malaysian health ministry has examined 36 samples of instant noodles from various brands. Eleven samples were found to contain ethylene oxide.
The ministry stated that it had taken action and recalled the affected products. It's unclear whether other brands were involved.
Following random inspections, the Department of Health in Taipei, Taiwan's capital, discovered ethylene oxide in two types of instant noodles, including the Indomie Chicken Flavour.
"The detection of ethylene oxide in the product did not comply with (standards)," according to the department.
"Businesses have been ordered to remove them immediately from their shelves."
The fact that this development occurred over 10,000 miles away in Southeast Asia did not diminish its significance in the country, as Nigeria is one of the largest consumers of Indomie instant noodles.
According to a 2019 CNN report, Nigeria has become the world's 12th largest instant noodle market, with locals consuming 1.76 billion servings of noodles each year.
According to the 2017 Kantar WorldPanel report, Indomie leads the Nigerian market, despite the fact that there are currently 16 brands competing for customers' attention.
Indomie is an Indonesian company that has partnered with the Tolaram Group in Nigeria.
The instant noodle was introduced to Nigeria via export in 1988, and the company opened its first production factory in the country in 1995. Today, the brand has become many Nigerians' preferred noodle.
While Tolaram Group's three Nigerian factories in Ogun, Port Harcourt, and Kaduna States produce eight million packets of noodles daily, the company's northern factory is the largest and most advanced.
Following the warnings issued by Malaysian and Taiwanese health authorities, the company issued a statement insisting that its noodles were manufactured in accordance with safety standards.
Taufik Wiraatmadja, a member of Indofoods' board of directors, stated in a statement issued on Friday that the product was completely safe for consumption.
Wiraatmadja stated that the noodles had standard certifications and were produced in accordance with international food safety regulations.
According to the statement, "Following the media reports in Taiwan on April 24th 2023 regarding the detection of ethylene oxide ("EtO") in the Ah Lai White Curry Noodles from Malaysia and seasoning of Indomie Special Chicken Flavour, PT Indofood CBP Sukses Makmur Tbk ("ICBP" or the "Company") as a subsidiary of PT Indofood Sukses Makmur Tbk wishes to provide the following explanation regarding Indomie."
"All instant noodles produced in Indonesia by ICBP are processed in accordance with food safety standards established by the Codex Standard for Instant Noodles and the Indonesian National Agency for Drug and Food Control ("BPOM RI"). Our instant noodles have received Indonesian National Standard Certification (SNI) and are manufactured in internationally certified facilities.
"For more than 30 years, ICBP has exported instant noodles to various countries around the world." The Company constantly ensures that all of its products comply with the applicable food safety regulations and guidelines in Indonesia and other countries where ICBP's instant noodles are sold."
According to the company, its Indomie instant noodles are safe to eat, according to a statement issued by BPOM RI.
In response, Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control announced that it will begin random sampling of Indomie noodles, including seasoning, from production facilities and markets on Tuesday, May 2.
It was also stated that the importation of Indomie noodles into Nigeria had been prohibited for many years and was still on the list.
Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, Director-General of NAFDAC, told The Nigerianwatch that the agency began investigating and responding immediately to the news of the recalled Indomie noodles by Taiwan and Malaysia authorities.
"On Tuesday, May 2, 2023, NAFDAC's Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Directorate will randomly sample Indomie noodles (including seasoning) from the production facilities, while the Post Marketing Surveillance Directorate will sample from the markets," she explained. Because the compound of interest is ethylene oxide, the Food Lab Services Directorate has been contacted. He is working on the analysis methodology.
"It should be noted that for many years, Indomie noodles have been prohibited from being imported into the country." It is one of the foods prohibited by the government. It is not permitted in Nigeria and thus is not registered with NAFDAC.
"We're taking extra precautions to ensure that the product isn't smuggled in, and if it is, our post-marketing surveillance will catch it." We also want to ensure that the spices used in the Indomie and other Nigerian noodles have been tested. That is what NAFDAC Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, as well as Post Marketing Surveillance, are doing this week at manufacturing facilities and in the market."
This development was music to the ears of many Nigerians. They have argued that the purpose of having a regulatory apparatus in place was to prevent danger, to nip potential fatalities in the bud by catching shady practitioners looking to take advantage of the system through deception.
They were perplexed as to why the country's regulatory agencies seemed to wake up only after the damage had been done.
"Very little is done in terms of sending the canary to the coal mine to detect danger." Indeed, what appears more perplexing is that, in an attempt to provide clarity on these damning oversight failures, these agencies end up indicting themselves," a source who preferred anonymity noted.
He questioned why, if the importation of Indomie had been prohibited for years, there had been no crackdown on those who defied the ban.
He compared it to a building control agency claiming that a collapsed skyscraper lacked necessary approval. "How come they were allowed to continue construction work without being shut down and prosecuted for breaking the law?" he asked.
Ethylene oxide is a colorless, odorless gas used to sterilize medical devices and spices that has been linked to a cancer-causing chemical.
According to the National Cancer Institute, "it is primarily used to produce other chemicals, including antifreeze." Ethylene oxide is used as a pesticide and a sterilising agent in small amounts. Ethylene oxide's ability to damage DNA makes it an effective sterilising agent, but it also accounts for its cancer-causing activity."
EO has been linked to an increased risk of several types of cancer in numerous studies. In 2016, the chemical was designated as a human carcinogen. The chemical is still widely used despite its toxicity.
Most viruses, bacteria, bacteria spores, and fungi are killed by ethylene oxide. It kills microorganisms by ripping cell membranes apart. Because of this property, EO is frequently used by manufacturers to disinfect dry foods such as spices and grains, as well as medical devices and supplies such as knee implants, catheters, syringes, and surgical kits.
The cancers most frequently linked to occupational ethylene oxide exposure are lymphoma and leukemia. Exposure to ethylene oxide may also be linked to stomach and breast cancer.
According to a report published in Frontiers in Oncology, Nigeria has one of the highest cancer mortality rates in the world, with an estimated 72,000 cancer deaths and 102,000 new cases diagnosed each year among its 200 million people.
Cancer is becoming more common in most parts of the world, but there are significant disparities between developed and developing countries such as Nigeria. Although incidence rates remain highest in more developed regions, mortality rates in less developed countries are significantly higher due to a lack of early detection and access to treatment facilities.
According to a survey report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, Nigeria recorded over 10,000 new cancer cases and 7,000 deaths in January 2023 alone. On this trajectory, cancer-related deaths in the United States would have reached at least 84,000 by the end of 2023.
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