ERA/FoEN: Nigeria needs to work on policies that will promote healthy lifestyle

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has urged the National Agency for Food Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to ensure speedy approval of the pre-packaged food, water and ice labelling regulation, 2019 and the fats & oils regulation, 2019.

ERA/FoEN is a Nigerian advocacy non-governmental organisation that is dedicated to the defence of human ecosystems and the promotion of environmentally responsible communities.

In a statement to mark the two-year anniversary of the REPLACE package of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Akinbode Oluwafemi, ERA/FoEN deputy executive director, said Nigeria needs to speedily work on policies that would promote healthy lifestyles.

“More than ever before, the nation needs to work fast on laws and policies that will promote healthy lifestyles, and approval of the regulations speedily will go a long way in that direction,” he was quoted to have said.

The package is a step-by-step guide for the elimination of industrially-produced trans-fatty acids from the global food supply.

The group also asked NAFDAC to fast track the approval of the regulations, as part of responses to the current COVID-19 pandemic.

In the statement, Philip Jakpor, head, media and campaigns of ERA/FoEN, said healthier alternative can be used to substitute industrially-produced trans fat that would not affect the taste or cost of food.

The REPLACE package recommends six strategic actions to ensure the prompt, complete and sustained elimination of industrially-produced trans fats from the food supply.

They include: reviewing dietary sources of industrially-produced trans fats and the landscape for required policy change; legislating or enact regulatory actions to eliminate industrially-produced trans fats, assessing and monitor trans fats content in the food supply and changes in trans fat consumption in the population, among others.

“The WHO had on May 14, 2018, released the replace package, advising governments across the world that “eliminating trans fat is key to protecting health and saving lives,” the statement read.

“WHO estimates that every year, trans fat intake leads to more than 500,000 deaths of people from cardiovascular disease.

“Industrially produced trans fats are contained in hardened vegetable fats, such as margarine and ghee, and are often present in snack food, baked foods, and fried foods. Manufacturers often use them as they have a longer shelf life than other fats.

“But healthier alternatives can be used that would not affect taste or cost of food. The world is currently battling the COVID-19 pandemic and scientific evidence has shown that people with existing CVD conditions are prone to complications if they contract COVID-19.”