The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) has charged supermarket owners to ensure that products sold to consumers are safe and compliant to the global listing guidelines and regulations.

The NAFDAC director, South-South zone, Chukwuma Oligbu, gave the charge at a stakeholders’ sensitisation workshop, organised for supermarket owners in Port Harcourt, on Wednesday.

Mr Oligbu said that the workshop aimed to sensitise supermarket owners to NAFDAC regulations and guidelines, compliance and the safety of consumers.

“This workshop will also strengthen partnerships between regulators and operators, and promote compliance with NAFDAC regulations,” he said.

According to him, supermarkets play a critical role in ensuring that safe, quality, and regulated products reach the public.

The NAFDAC zonal boss further charged supermarket owners to adhere to regulatory requirements and best operational practices.

He said that NAFDAC’s regulatory oversight was not intended to hinder business growth but protect public health and promote ethical business operations.

He also advised the stakeholders to source and store their products in line with the global regulatory list, and also train their staff to be aware of the guidelines and operations.

A breast milk nutrition expert, Alice Nte, from the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, spoke on the regulations against giving prominence to breast milk substitutes or baby milk in supermarkets and their advertisement or promotion in any form.

Ms Nte underscored the importance of mothers’ breast milk to the newborn which, he said, helps in fighting childhood diseases, infections and cancer in breastfeeding mothers.

She urged supermarket owners to comply with NAFDAC’s regulations and guidelines to ensure the safety of consumers.

Also, the deputy director, NAFDAC South-South zone, Riter Chukwuma, took the participants on guidelines for global listing on products.

Ms Chukwuma emphasised the need for strict adherence to regulations to avoid confiscation of imported products. 

(NAN)