Public perception plays a vital role in the acceptance of people, places and products. A few positive attributes projected about them could trigger their mass appeal. These would inadvertently rub off on their sales figure and the attendant profit margin. But just one negative feature that is made public about any such product and the opposite happens. Waves of fears and doubts are raised. Questions are asked. And the longer such questions remain unanswered the worse it becomes for all the stakeholders.
It is in this wise that governments (federal, state and local councils) that have the statutory obligation to ensure the safety of all products made available to the public must do so. They have to put in place, the legal framework to bolster such, so that the largely ill-informed citizens are not left vulnerable to the deleterious and hazardous effects of all consumables, not the least being processed foods.
This brings to mind the raging controversy over the safety or not of benzoic acid in combination with ascorbic acid in the formulation of soft drinks. Only recently, the President and Founder, Consumer Advocacy Foundation of Nigeria, Ms Sola Salako with some consumer groups threatened mass action suit against the Nigerian Bottling Company(NBC) if it became evident that the consumers of Fanta and Sprite-both popular products from its stable possessed levels of benzoic acid and ascorbic acid harmful to them.
Truth is, the questions Salako asked are fundamentally significant. Why are the standards of the preservative different for various soft drinks? Has NAFDAC, the regulatory body carried out adequate researches to determine such standards? Why should the level approved in the United Kingdom be 200mg/kg and that of Nigeria 250mg/kg? Is it too high?
Complicating the scenario was the judgment of the Lagos High Court which directed NBC to put a warning signal on the bottles of Fanta and Sprite, to alert the consumers-and there are legions of them-that taking the product was poisonous. Adding its voice, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) insists that both NAFDAC and the Federal Ministry of Health should comply with the judge’s directive. “The NMA held that NAFDAC failed Nigerians by declaring as fit for human consumption, drinks discovered through tests in the United Kingdom as being poisonous when mixed with ascorbic acid”. The judgment was in response to a suit brought before it by a Lagos-based businessman, Dr. Emmanuel Fijabi Adebo and his company, Fijabi Adebo Holdings Limited against the duo.
As expected, NBC and NAFDAC have appealed the judgment which awarded a cost of N2m against the latter. Obeying that directive would have had a damaging effect on their corporate image. And mind you, image is everything! It is more like a warning on the label of a tobacco product stating that the ‘Surgeon General warns that smoking the cigarette could be dangerous to human health’. Yet, millions of the addict go ahead to puff the smoke into their lungs!
Going further in an advertorial, NBC insists that: “the UK standards limit benzoic acid in soft drinks to a maximum of 150mg/kg.’ But” both Fanta and Sprite have benzoic levels of 200mg/kg, which is lower than the Nigerian regulatory limit of 250 mg/kg when combined with ascorbic acid and 300mg/kg without ascorbic acid and also lower than the 600mg/kg international limit set by CODEX”. More so, both ingredients are approved by international food safety regulators and used by several food and beverage products all over the world.
So, what is benzoic acid? That is the million-naira question. It is a food additive used to inhibit the growth of mold, yeast and bacteria as a preservative for different kinds of foods. These include fruit juices, soft drinks, barbecue sauces and salad dressings. Mostprocessed foods have acids added artificially. Generally, their use as preservatives in food, beverages, toothpastes, mouthwashes, dentifrices, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals is regulated.
Experts have however, warned that their exposure to consumers, especially children should be drastically minimised. And this is due to their hazards to human health. For instance, Sarah Olsen warned in 2010 that: “Benzoic Acid is one of these preservatives that you should avoid. If Benzoic Acid is inhaled, it can cause damage to the nervous system. Eaten in food, it’s mildly toxic. Benzoic Acid has been linked to asthma problems and increased levels of hyperactivity in children”.
Others have equally warned that shortly after exposure to benzoic acid in cosmetics, the following health effects can occur. These include eye damage, irritation of the skin, resulting in a rash, redness, and/or a burning feeling. If inhaled, it could cause irritation to the nose, throat and lungs. This may lead to coughing, wheezing and/or shortness of breath. Large doses may cause sore throat, gastric pain, nausea, vomiting, and possible allergic reactions. Acne medicated face washes and creams contain benzoic acid, as do many hand and body lotions, lip glosses and lipsticks.
What the recent controversy over the use of benzoic acid preservative in soft drinks has shown include the lack of sustained public enlightenment on food safety and also the lack of pro-active measures on consumer protection. For instance, the Consumer Protection Council Act is provided for under Chapter C25, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004. It is an act to provide for the establishment of the consumer protection council and for matters connected therewith. The Council has a representative of each state in the Federal Republic of Nigeria and persons representing the ministries of Health, Commerce, Industry, Science and technology and Petroleum resources.
As part of its functions, it should provide speedy redress to consumers’ complaints through negotiation, mediation and conciliation. It should also seek ways and means of eliminating from the market hazardous products and causing offenders to replace such products with more appropriate alternatives. But these are sometimes left undone until some harm has been done to the consumers. This is not good enough.
The federal government should ensure that these agencies are well funded and staffed while those who have abdicated in their duties to the nation should be brought to book
