The Standards Organisation of Nigeria has said it will withdraw the product certification of flour mills that sell flour and flour products lacking essential nutrients.
The Director-General, SON, Dr. Joseph Odumodu, this public in Lagos when the organisation launched four new logos on quality assurance and the reviewed standard for the fortification of flour and flour products.
Stakeholders present at the launch explained that the food fortification programme was based on the mandate of the World Health Organisation that all foods consumed must be fortified with the four essential nutrients – zinc, iron, folic acid and vitamins.
Odumodu said, “Flour and flour products are highly patronised and consumed in the country. We need to fortify the standards and quality of these products to ensure the health and safety of consumers.
“With our two globally accredited food technology test laboratories in place, our agro-allied products are expected to be accepted anywhere across the world.”
The SON DG explained that with the economic diversification drive of the Federal Government, Nigeria’s cassava, garri, flour, soya beans, cocoa and others could be in high demand not only in West Africa, but across the sub-Saharan region.
Consequently, he called on dealers and producers of flour and its allied products to key into the re-invigorated standards for their products.
Odumodu said SON had observed sharp practices among manufacturers of flour products, explaining that while on their regular factory inspection, the organisation’s agents of usually noticed packets of flour products fortified with the specified nutrients only for the products to get to the markets and for buyers discover that the nutrients were missing.
“Something usually goes wrong between the market and the factory,” he said.
He warned that the practice would not accepted, adding that products that did not carry the required nutrients would lose their SON product certification. The certification is the agency’s stamp of quality.
“Such products will be regarded as fake and substandard and they will be removed from the markets,” Odumodu stated.
The SON DG said the agency was withdrawing its existing logos from circulation and replacing them with new ones was because of the need to bestow unique stamp of quality on products certified by it as a way of consolidating its efforts on the war against substandard and fake products.
He said although the agency was recording success, the war against fake, adulterated, counterfeited and substandard products across the breadth and length of the country was becoming complex.
According to him, part of the reason the agency changed its logos was because fraudsters had adulterated the existing logos to facilitate the import of substandard goods into Nigeria.
He said, “The four logos we are about to present are part and parcel of our efforts to provide comfortable cover and umbrella to members of the nation’s business community which include manufacturers, exporters, importers and franchise/brand owners of products made overseas but imported into Nigeria.
“The new logos on Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme, SON’s Conformity Assessment Programme, Nigeria Industrial Standard Mark of Quality as well as Nigeria Quality Award, all drive at the ultimate goal of checkmating the Smart Alecs and unscrupulous activities of economic saboteurs.
*Punch
