Kaduna: NAFDAC seized 75 cartoons expired tomato paste
In a raid on the Sheik Gumi market in Kaduna State on Thursday, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control discovered unregistered and expired tomato paste worth more than N2 million.
According to the agency, 16 stores in the market had 75 cartons of various brand names of expired and unregistered tomato paste.
Tamanuwa Andrew, Deputy Director, Investigation and Enforcement Directorate of NAFDAC, Kaduna Office, stated that the raid was in accordance with the Federal Government’s 2019 prohibition on the importation of tomato paste.
He claimed that since the importation of tin tomato paste had been outlawed, the agency had been conducting raids on tomato paste vendors who were operating illegally and in marketplaces around the nation.
Since the importation of tin tomato paste was prohibited, he claimed, the agency had been conducting raids on unregistered and prohibited tomato paste at marketplaces around the nation.
“The Director of Investigation and Enforcement gave a press briefing in Lagos in September 2022 on the raid conducted in the state alone, where open and supermarkets and stores were raided and over 3,000 cartons of unregistered canned tomatoes were recovered.”
Andrew stated that NAFDAC would continue to carry out its duties and not back down from its obligations to guarantee a healthy country.
He revealed that their surveillance had revealed that open markets, grocery stores, and convenience stores were still bringing in forbidden tomato paste in violation of the law, which he described as a setback to the economy and local manufacturers.
