The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC)  has given Indomie Noodles produced in Nigeria a clean bill of health, insisting that such noodles  have nothing to do with those  produced in Taiwan and Malaysia, and are therefore safe for consumption.

Speaking as a guest on a popular TV show, Your View, aired on TVC television, Director-General, NAFDAC, Mojisola Adeyeye,  stated further that  foreign noodles were banned in Nigeria, several years ago, as a way of supporting local production of noodles and backward integration of the economy.

 

“Foreign noodles have been banned from entering the country by the Nigerian government many years ago and this is on the Nigerian Customs Service importation prohibition list and this is to encourage local production of noodles and backward integration of the economy,” she stated.

The NAFDAC boss also stated that the agency is working to ensure that foreign-made noodles are not smuggled into the country, adding that NAFDAC Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FSAN) organisation, had commenced post-marketing surveillance (PMS), while the Food Lab Services Directorate, she added, had  also been activated on the issue.

Reacting to the issue, the management of Dufil Prima Foods, makers of the Nigeria Indomie Noodles described the company as distinct from the Indomie Taiwan and Indomie Malaysia.

 

The company’s Group Corporate Communications and Event Manager,  Tope Ashiwaju, in a statement, noted that “Indomie Nigeria is different and a separate entity from Indomie Taiwan, and Indomie Malaysia. Indomie instant Noodles is locally produced in the country and operations have been ongoing for at least three decades. Dufil Prima has improved local capacity utilisation has aided enhanced production to meet market demand, rather than depending on importation.”

Nigeria is a major consumer of instant noodles, with Indomie Instant Noodles dominating the market. The World Instant Noodles Association (WINA) said Nigeria is one of the largest consumers of instant noodles, with 1.92 million.

 

The ban on the importation of instant noodles is not a recent development, as instant noodles have been on the importation prohibition list of the Federal Government for a long time.