"Stop Storing Cooked Food in Refrigerators for More than 3 Days": NAFDAC Warns Nigerians

• Professor Moji Adeyeye, director general of NAFDAC, advised Nigerians against storing cooked food in refrigerators for more than three days due to contamination risks from pathogens
• This warning aligns with the 2024 World Food Safety Day theme, emphasising collective responsibility in ensuring food safety
• WHO reports that unsafe food causes 600 million illnesses and 420,000 deaths annually, highlighting the critical need for robust food safety practice

The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Moji Adeyeye, has advised Nigerians to stop stocking food cooked in refrigerators for more than three days.

The expert explained such foods are vulnerable to microorganisms that are dangerous to the human body.

This safety warning was conveyed in a statement on Tuesday, signed by the agency’s Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola.

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The statement was part of NAFDAC's activities commemorating the 2024 World Food Safety Day, themed "Food Safety: Prepare for the Unexpected."

The United Nations General Assembly initiated the observation in 2018, and it is celebrated on June 7 every year.

The rationale behind dedicating a day to food safety is to detect, prevent, and attend to public medical risks attributed to unsafe food.

Prof. Adeyeye highlighted the importance of food safety not only for public health but also as a critical factor for economic development and food security.

She called on all stakeholders in the food supply chain to adopt and implement a robust food safety culture to mitigate food hazards and risks that could compromise food safety.

Many die of food poisoning annually

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 600 million individuals, nearly one-tenth of the global population, become sick each year from consuming contaminated food, resulting in approximately 420,000 deaths annually.

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This leads to a loss of 33 million healthy life years. Additionally, WHO highlighted that unsafe food contributes to $110 billion in productivity losses and medical expenses annually in low- and middle-income countries.

Mrs Eva Edwards, the director of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, added that foodborne diseases, while costly, are preventable.

WHO issues warning on food safety during power outages

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the World Health Organization (WHO) had issued a warning about the dangers of consuming food exposed to temperatures above 5 °C (41 °F) for more than two hours, particularly during power outages.

The advisory, released in commemoration of the 2024 World Food Safety Day, emphasises discarding perishable items after four hours without power.

Proofread by Kola Muhammed, journalist and copyeditor at Legit.ng

Source: Legit.ng