The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, has advised Nigerians to avoid storing cooked food in refrigerators for more than three days due to contamination risks.
In a statement released Tuesday by the agency’s Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, NAFDAC warned that prolonged storage of cooked food can lead to contamination by disease-causing pathogens, potentially resulting in fatal foodborne illnesses.
During the 2024 World Food Safety Day, themed ‘Food Safety: Prepare for the Unexpected,’ Adeyeye emphasized the need for stakeholders in the food supply chain to foster a culture of food safety to mitigate hazards and risks.
She stressed the importance of food safety for both public health and economic development, urging everyone from producers to consumers to contribute to a safer food system.
Parts of the statement read: “She (NAFDAC FG) urged Nigerians to refrain from storing cooked food in the refrigerator for more than three days, warning that cooked food stored in the refrigerator for days is susceptible to contamination by disease-causing pathogens, key agents of foodborne diseases that can lead to death.”
“Let us all stay true to the statements ‘food safety is everyone’s business’ and ‘food safety is a shared responsibility’ as we mark this year’s World Food Safety Day.
“Working together, we will continue to strengthen our food safety system, ensuring its resilience, robustness and preparedness for the unexpected,” she said.
According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 600 million – almost one in 10 people in the world – fall ill after eating contaminated food, and 420,000 die every year, resulting in the loss of 33 million healthy life years.