The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has seized more than 10,000 cartons of unregistered tomato paste and cosmetic products during a five-day raid at the Lagos Trade Fair Market.
The operation, conducted by NAFDAC’s Investigation and Enforcement Directorate in the market’s cosmetics section, targeted harmful and unregulated goods.
Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Dr. Martins Iluyomade, told journalists on Tuesday that the confiscated items included creams, soaps, body sprays, body washes, air fresheners, toothpaste, and large stocks of tomato paste.
He warned that the safety of the seized products could not be guaranteed since they had not undergone regulatory scrutiny.
“Deaths from substandard medicines, cosmetics, and unsafe foods exceed the number of people killed by Boko Haram,” Iluyomade said, reaffirming the agency’s commitment to safeguarding public health.
He added that a newly launched multi-agency task force would boost nationwide surveillance, while NAFDAC’s partnership with the Nigeria Customs Service was blocking the entry of falsified goods through Nigeria’s borders.
Iluyomade urged traders to take advantage of the agency’s decentralised registration process to verify and register their products, stressing NAFDAC’s determination to rid markets of unregistered, substandard, and expired goods.
