Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has used the occasion of this year’s Valentine celebrations to caution Nigerians against the dangers of consuming foods laced with killer-Trans fats.
CAPPA, a pioneer member of Trans-Fat free Nigeria coalition, amid funfare, staged its sensitization campaign along Awolowo way, Ikeja-Lagos, Monday, as members of the group mobilised Nigerians to rally support for the campaign against bad fats in foods, which kill over 500,000 people every year globally.
Executive Director, CAPPA, Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi said the valentine celebrations present a rare opportunity for the group and Nigerians to call for urgent actions against the consumption of trans-fat as Nigerians gather to celebrate in different dimensions nationwide.
“Traditionally people try to show love by sharing cakes, by sharing chocolates by sharing food. And we think this is a moment of letting Nigerians know that we can actually celebrate valentine without hurting your heart. And that if you don’t celebrate valentine with healthy food, you can hurt your heart. Again, this is to remind us that there are bad trans-fat laced oils that are on sale and that Nigerians should be wary and that Nigerians should help mobilise the government, to put pressure on the Nigerian government to pass, approve, gazette the national law on oil and fats so that we can have trans-fat free valentine, so we can have valentine that does not hurt our hearts,” Oluwafemi told journalists.
He also called on the Nigeria’s Ministry of Health to fast-track the passage and gazette of the trans-fat regulations which have continued to stall since 2020.
The New Diplomat reports the Federal Ministry of Health now has in its possession, the ‘Fats and Oils Regulations, 2020’ and the ‘Pre-packaged Food, Water and ICe Labeling Regulation 2020’ transmitted to it by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for review and further action by the Federal Ministry of Justice.
The regulations are in line with the REPLACE package of the World Health Organization to eliminate trans-fat from the global food supply by 2023.
However, Nigeria is lagging as regulations needed to get to the actualisation of the 2023 deadline are yet to be passed and gazetted.
“We’re also working directly with the government, we are talking to NAFDAC, we are talking to Federal Ministry of Health. So few days ago, we were with the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Adeleke Olorunnimbe Mamora to ensure that everything that we need to do is being done to get Nigerians up to speed as fast as possible,” the CAPPA boss said.
He added: “It is about educating Nigerians about the dangers of trans-fat and then putting pressure on the government to pass the law.”
