Hundreds of Nigerian people have been reported to have died of food borne disease according to the country’s Consumer Protection Council (CPC) report.
Director General of the Council Mrs. Ify Umenyi has said that already a total of 559 people died of food borne diseases out of the 2.5 million recorded cases in 2006 and 2007 in the country.
Mrs Umenyi who spoke in Abuja at the pre-workshop press conference on quality and safety of street vended food in Nigeria, jointly organized by CPC and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) said, “some of the cases could be directly linked to consumption of contaminated street vended food.”
She said in 2008, the council survey on street vended foods within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was depressing in terms of quality and safety which presupposed that the situation could be worse in the hinterland where most facilities like potable water, electricity are in shorter supply.
In his remarks the Director General of National Orientation Agency, Alhaji Idi Faruk said the upcoming workshop which would be in collaboration with the wife of the Benue State government Mrs. Yamisi Dooshima Suswam.
He said it will feature training for food vendors, exhibition of foods and beverages and agricultural produce as well as cooking competition, adding that the objectives of the workshop include educating of food vendors on the best practices in ensuring quality of street food and safety of consumers.
The workshop will also set model in areas of food presentation, preparation and preservation, to mobilize consumers to support the campaign to regulate street vended food in Nigeria among other things.
Participants for the three-day workshop would be drawn from the 36 states of the federation including Abuja and starts April 13, 2010 in Markudi, Benue State.