The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has denied reports that it has banned the Indomie instant noodles.

Recall that health officials in Malaysia and Taiwan had claimed to detect ethylene oxide, a carcinogenic substance responsible for lymphoid cancer and, breast cancer in the product, leading to a series of investigations of Indofoods, manufacturers of the product.

The Ministry of Health of Malaysia (MOH) immediately issued a directive to hold, test and release the Indomie Special Chicken Flavour instant noodles products from Malaysia at all entry points of the country.

However, this has created series of concerns among Indomie Instant Noodles consumers globally, particularly in Nigeria and raised the level of concerns about the safety of consuming the brand.

In view of this, the NAFDAC assured Nigerians that importation of Noodles into the country had been banned for a very long period and such ban has not been lifted.

The Director-General, NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, said, “Instant noodles is on the importation prohibition list of the Federal Government. This variant or flavour is not registered by the agency, nor is it produced locally here, and has been banned from importation to Nigeria many years ago.”

She further stated that NAFDAC is working to ensure that the product does not come into Nigeria, adding that NAFDAC Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FSAN) organ, has commenced a post-marketing surveillance (PMS) while the Food Lab Services Directorate has also been activated on the issue.

“NAFDAC’s Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Directorate will commence a random sample of Indomie noodles including the seasoning from the production facilities here in Nigeria and the markets to ascertain that the variants of noodles produced and marketed in Nigeria are safe for consumption,” she stated.

While reacting, the manufacturer, Dufil Prima Foods Plc, through the Group Public Relations Manager, Tope Ashiwaju stated that Nigerians have nothing to fear as there is no such detection in Indomie Instant Noodles produced here in Nigeria. He stressed that Indomie Instant Noodles is produced locally in Nigeria under the strictest manufacturing processes that is constantly audited by government regulatory authorities from time to time.