The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC) says it has commenced mop up of the banned foreign fruit juices in Nigerian markets.
Carolly Ngobiri of the Investigation and Enforcement Directorate, NAFDAC, Lagos office, made this known on Wednesday during the mop up at Gbagada area of Lagos.
Ngobiri told newsmen during the exercise that such products still abound in major markets and supermarkets across the country.
According to him, a circular issued on Dec. 19 from the directorate directed an urgent visit to all markets and supermarkets across the states to mop up these items.
“We are here to carry out one of the NAFDAC’s mandates; to ensure that all foreign juices are removed from the Nigerian markets.
“We have given them a deadline from now to Dec. 31 to stop their sales and remove them from the shelves.
“To ensure that these are totally removed, we have started mopping up all the juices across the country.
“By the end of Dec. 31, we do not want to see any imported juice in Nigeria.
“At these places that we have gone to carry out our assignment, we have taken the items, documented them and invited the owners to come to our office for further interrogation.
“NAFDAC is still working to safeguard and protect the health of all Nigerians,” he said.
The NAFDAC official advised Nigerians to check all the date markings including the production and expiry dates, as well as NAFDAC registration number of each of the products, before purchase.
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