Nafdac call senate for the use of chemicals to accelerate fruit maturation

Senate on Wednesday summoned the National Agency for the administration and control of drugs and drugs (Nafdac) to explain the use of hazardous chemicals that were not checked by fruit sellers to accelerate the maturation of fruit in the country.

This follows the adoption of a motion moved by Senator Anthony Ani during the plenary in Abuja.

This movement is entitled: “The urgent need to investigate and stop the practice of unsuccessful which moves from the maturation of fruit in Nigeria.”

Ani, in her presentation, regretted that the trend of increasing maturation that was chemically induced was “dangerous deviations from natural ways for fruits to ripen.”

He explained that while fruits that were naturally torn had a sweet taste, texture, and better nutritional content, many vendors now switched to dangerous agents to force the process and improve the appearance for commercial benefits.

“Ethylene and Methyl Jasmonate can be considered relatively safe,” said the member of the parliament.

Also read: Nafdac launched a digital device to handle the best medicines in North-East Nigeria

He, however, added that, the problem lies in the use of widespread substances such as calcium carbide, ethephon and ethylene glyco-chemicals filled with toxic residues including lead and arsenic.

Members of parliament warn that these substances are known to cause severe health problems such as cancer, kidney damage, liver failure, neurological disorders and in extreme cases, death.

Senator also criticized the failure of the regulatory institution, which stated that many countries had banned these chemicals, while Nigeria was left behind in applying effective steps.

Senate, in its resolution, directing Nafdac management to appear before the Health and Agricultural Committee to explain the current intervention and describe the future steps to combat chemical maturation;

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and Competition Competition and Federal Consumer Protection (FCCPC) is directed to investigate the problem and start urgent actions.

The upper legislative room also mandates Nafdac and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to improve public education about health risks related to fruits that are artificially mature.

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