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“Indomie noodles manufactured in Nigeria
is different from the one produced in
Malaysia and Taiwan and is safe for
consumption” NAFDAC Director
General.
This is the truth, but Nigerian consumers have
seen over the last few days how fake news and
clickbait news are causing panic among the public.
Consumers of the leading noodles brand, Indomie
were thrown off balance at the weekend as the social
media community was inundated with the news that
the popular brand had been banned in Nigeria.
Perhaps because of the sudden surge of citizen
journalism with little or no time for verification,
this side of the story gained tremendous traction.
With the headline: ‘NAFDAC bans Indomie
Noodles’, some bloggers and social media
enthusiasts activated their handles on Sunday
through Monday morning. By the evening of
Monday May 1, the news was everywhere that
Indomie had been banned. For a market leader
like Indomie, it became an issue management as
many consumers became confused.
THE FACTS…
But according to THISDAY check, the news
being circulated is a mutilated version of a
statement issued 24 hours ago by the National
Agency for Food and Drug Administration and
Control (NAFDAC) about the existing ban on
the importation of Instant Noodles to Nigeria.
Of course, this action was prompted by the recent
articles on various social media platforms about
whether Indomie noodles is safe for consumption
or not. While this news is emanating from Malaysia
and Taiwan, due to the global village concept,
Nigeria could not push it aside.
A recent statement issued by health officials in
Malaysia and Taiwan where they claimed they had
detected ethylene oxide, a compound in Indomie’s
“Special Chicken” flavour noodles produced by
Indofoods, has jolted the global noodles giant to
a series of investigation to ascertain the claim by
the health officials.
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 and urged its manufacturer to
voluntarily recall the affected products from the
markets in Malaysia and Taiwan.
Despite this occurrence happening in faraway
Asian countries, it has created a series of concerns
among Indomie Instant Noodles consumers globally
and raised the level of concerns about the safety
of consuming the brand particularly in Nigeria,
which is number one consumer in Africa and
one of the largest consumers of noodles globally
Reacting to this, NAFDAC was quick to
assure Nigerians that importation of Noodles
into the country has been banned for a very
long period and such ban has not been lifted,
so consumers have no cause for alarm.
While responding to the information on
the detection in Malaysia and Taiwan, the
Director-General, NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola
Adeyeye, said, “Instant noodles has been on
the importation prohibition list of the Federal
Government for many years. This variant or
flavour is not registered by the agency, nor is
According to the regulatory agency, the
statement on the ban of the importation of
noodles into Nigeria became necessary as a
result of claims that a cancer-causing chemical
was discovered in the noodles and claims that
the agency was not registered.
NAFDAC Director-General Mojisola Adeyeye
discussed the situation and announced that the
organization will start testing random samples
of the noodles and other brands on May 2.
Speaking on Monday, Adeyeye claimed
that as soon as the NAFDAC learned that the
products had been recalled by Malaysian and
Taiwanese officials, it began an investigation.
“On May 2, 2023, NAFDAC’s food safety
and applied nutrition directorate will randomly
sample Indomie noodles (including the seasoning)
from the production facilities while the post
marketing surveillance directorate (will) samples
from the markets,” she said.
“The compound of interest is ethylene oxide,
so the director of food lab services directorate
has been engaged. He is working on the
methodology for the analysis,” the DG stated.
HALF-TRUTH…
In view of the position of the agency and the
activities of those who mischievously twisted the
story to mean that Indomie has been banned,
few tricky facts have since been identified.
One, a curious look at the NAFDAC’s
statement expressly indicated that Indomie
Nigeria is not affected by issues in Malaysia and
Taiwan and the Nigerian noodles is produced
locally. What this means is that Indomie Nigeria
is a separate entity from Indomie Taiwan
and Indomie Malaysia.
Another incontrovertible fact is that
importation of instant noodles has been banned
since long before, therefore bringing currency
into the issues now will be tantamount to
deliberately confusing Nigerian consumers.
Interestingly, the NAFDAC Boss stated in the
statement that the product is on the prohibition
list of the federal government and she added
that it is not registered by the agency and
had been banned from importation to Nigeria
years ago.
Finally, Indomie Nigeria has been locally
produced in Nigeria for about three decades. It
is not imported. The ban is on foreign instant
noodles and not on those locally produced.
NAFDAC’S RATIFICATION
Following the confusion created by the
panic news pushed by some 5th columnists,
NAFDAC has made further clarifications on
the controversies and confirmed that Imported
Indomie noodles remain banned in Nigeria.
Adeyeye said the products flagged by both
Taiwan and Malaysian health authorities are not
registered in Nigeria and so have nothing to
do with the country. She, however, noted that
the investigations being conducted are simply
being cautious.
She further reinforces this in an interview on
Your View Show on TVC. She said the Indomie
product produced in Nigeria is absolutely safe.
Also reacting to the development, the
management of Dufil Prima Foods Plc, makers of
Indomie Noodles in Nigeria, has said its products
are 100 per cent locally produced and are safe
for consumption.
it produced locally here.”
Source: Raheem Akingbolu
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