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World Food Day: Keeping Everyone Safe from Trans fats

Published

3 years ago

October 25, 2022

By Jerome Mafeni

This year’s World Food Day with the theme “Leave no on behind” is celebrated amid a deteriorating global food security crisis with an all-time high of numbers of people at risk of experiencing serious levels of hunger in different parts of the world. This is especially so among developing countries in Africa and Asia with Nigeria being no exception.

With the war in Ukraine, along with several conflicts in different parts of the world (Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria and ethnic conflicts), coupled with the very severe effects of climate change resulting from severe weather events that has caused drought, flooding and other natural disasters, major disruptions have occurred to the food supplies to various countries.

The World Food Day is one of the most celebrated days on the United Nations (UN) calendar and is celebrated in over 150 countries worldwide. This day enables all stakeholders including governments, businesses, NGOs, the media, and general public to come together for joint reflection and action on how to address the challenges faced by those who suffer the most from hunger.

By creating global awareness, it is hope that the need for food equity will be promoted as well as the need to ensure healthy diets for all.

With the world’s population estimated to approximate 10 billion by 2050 and well over 2 billion people already not having regular access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food today, it is clear that new and effective strategies must be articulated and implemented to address this gap in food security.

It is also important that we address the importance of increasing access to healthy and nutritious food for all, including food that is free of toxic chemicals such as trans fatty acids. Improving access to safe and nutritious food is important especially for poor and vulnerable communities who are hit hardest by the harmful effects unhealthy foods have on consumers. This is more so as several of these can be prevented through the improvement in public awareness and appropriate regulations.

Trans fats have been linked to increases in the risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancers, dementia and death. According to estimates by the World Health Organization, over 500, 000 persons died yearly resulting from complications associated with the consumption of foods high in trans fats. This statistic has led to the call for the global elimination of industrially produced trans-fat by 2023.

Trans fats are fats produced from the industrial process of hydrogenation, whereby molecular hydrogen (H2) is added to vegetable oil, converting liquid fat to a semi-solid and stable fat that have a long shelf life. Food products containing unsaturated fats are susceptible to rancidity with attendant unpleasant taste and odor as a manifestation of their short shelf life.

This thus led to research to create a more stable form of unsaturated fat that had the potential for a significantly extended shelf life and improving the value of a variety of foods.

Industrially produced trans-fatty acids (TFA) cause heart disease and death, are not necessary in food and can be eliminated. Industrially produced TFA are used in baked and fried foods, pre-packaged snacks, and certain cooking oils and fats that are used at home, in restaurants and in street foods. Elimination of industrially produced TFA from food is feasible, and some countries are taking action, although until recently this has been mostly in wealthy countries. Efforts need to move beyond high-income countries so that everyone can benefit from TFA elimination.

The theme of this year’s World Food Day ‘Leave No One Behind’ provides an opportunity for the Federal Government to fast track the gazetting of the 2022 Oils and Fats Regulations, a mandatory regulation that addresses the amount of TFAs permissible in our food systems because this caters to everyone’s need and rights regarding access to healthy food options.

Early gazetting and implementation of this regulations will also safeguard the health of Nigerians and reduce the inflow of trans-fatty foods into our food markets.

It is important for the Federal Ministry of Health and the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) immediately initiate a regulations implementation framework that will ensure effective compliance by all food producers in the country. This is for the good of all Nigerians whether young or old, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, rural or urban dweller as effective implementation will guarantee improved health for all by a measure that is so easy to accomplish if the right political will to do so exists.

By Dr. Jerome O. Mafeni, Project Adviser for TFA Elimination, Network for Health Equity and Development (NHED)

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Senator Ndubueze’s Local Automotive Patronage Bill Passes Second Reading in National Assembly

Published

6 days ago

May 16, 2025

The Gleamer

By Jim Isilebo

On Thursday 15th May 2025,a Bill seeking to compel Ministries, Departments,and Agencies (MDAs) of governments in Nigeria at all levels to patronize locally manufactured vehicles,passed the second reading at the Nigerian Senate.

The Bill titled *”Local Automative Patronage Bill-2025″*, which is sponsored by distinguished Senator Patrick Ndubueze(FNSE) representing Imo North and introduced in October 2024 passed it’s 2nd reading at no less auspicious time as the period President Tinubu is rolling out his all-important and widely acclaimed “Renewed Hope Nigeria First Policy” to be soon backed by an Executive Order of the Presidency.

The Order will mandate all ministries, departments and agencies to give absolute priority to Nigerian goods, services and know-how when spending public funds.

During the plenary,senator Ndubueze in his lead debate reinforced the President’s thinking by stating inter alia,”…it is important that goods and services are produced locally,as it’s ripple effect is a reduction in import and a rise in export,with regards to the nation’s balance of trade”.

The Senator who have never hidden his aversion to the nation’s several years of poor support to local production capacities,stridently called on his colleagues in the National Assembly to buy into this laudable initiatives as captured in the Bill.He went further to state that the country has failed to institutionalize the use of indigenous brands as is the case in countries like China,India and Malaysia that have since banned the importation of cars as a national policy, for the purpose of growing domestic industries.

He reminded his colleagues that “today those countries have perfected their local processes and we are presently importing their products,some of which cannot compete with our locally manufactured vehicles”.

Ndubueze also revealed that over the years 54 Automative manufacturing licenses have been issued by the Nigerian government, noting that only 6 companies remain operational largely due to dearth in foreign exchange and poor infrastructure.

The Senator sadly regrets the fact that many automobile firms have moved to neighboring countries like Ghana where they are establishing plants whose production is targeted at Africa’s largest automobile market Nigeria.

Senator Ndubueze continued his painful lamentation with the following posers.;”How do we stem the free fall of the naira if we cannot address our appetite for foreign goods?”.

“How do we support the development of indigenous brands if the biggest spender(government),year on year, refuses to buy made-in-Nigeria goods?”.

He went on to make a proposal of a minimum of 75 percent of vehicles in the first instance, procured by public officers and civil servants to be locally manufactured(not just assembled), as it is the first serious step to saving our economy, protecting our currency,and creating jobs for our daily growing statistics of the employed.

A clearly passionate Ndubueze continued with a salient recommendation that only firms with at least 70% Nigerian workforce,75% local research and development(R&D) budget,and technology such as robotics painting machines and electrophoresis systems should qualify as local manufacturers.

The Bill which has already gained substantial traction amongst other senators including the day’s presiding officer, the Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin and Chief Whip Mohammad Monguno, whom in their respective complimentary contributions to the debate made very favourable supporting comments later referred it to the Senate Committee on Public Procurement for further legislative scrutiny, and feedback expected within the next four weeks.

Reacting to the event of the day right after the plenary,a former honorable member of the House of Representatives Hon Chidi Nwogu commended Senator Ndubueze for his unwavering diligence in pursuing the actualization of this crucial Bill,and moreso his praiseworthy presentation during the lead debate.

He went further to correlate the main meat of the debate with the position and recent announcement of the Minister of state of Industry Senator John Enoh, that Nigerian the President’s “Nigerian First Policy” is geared towards injection of well over N3 Trillion into the national economy(of which the local automobile industry will be a major contributor),as it aims to patronizing local content and indigenous enterprises, which will eventually strengthen domestic production and reduce import dependency.

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