The economy got into recession and making a living became
difficult, survival instinct of the masses came up and people did things not
very honourable to survive. The food industry was an easy target because the
food industry can not suffer even in recession, people must eat. The level of
food imitation and substandard products in market right now is alarming and I think
you should know.
From adulteration of palm oil to the mixing of Garri or the
mixing of beans, the level of food quality in market right now is too low even
to be consumed by a dog! The risks involved are numerous but the sellers of
this product will not stop because they want the excessive profit and
unfortunately, the food market is largely informal and no one is going after
them. As a matter of fact, they have advantage because the populace only buys
from the open market and as such will only buy what is offered by these
adulterators as there is no way for them to know the difference! The system
thus keeps revolving while people eat things they do not have any control about
the safety.
Recently, there was a case of massive death in South-South Nigeria
after people drank locally brewed Gin that was poisonous. I believe there must
have been a major contaminant in the product, the brewer will be aware but he
wanted to make money all the same and sold the drinks thus wasting lives all
along. The same with the preservation of beans and yam flour with poisonous
pesticides and these marketers still sell the product into the market
regardless of who is eating. We just have been going through gradual poisoning
by people whose only objective is to make money. They add colour to palm oil
not minding the fact that colour materials have limits that are linked to
safety.
I particularly want to raise alarm on the rate drinks are
being adulterated and most of them are sold in the motor parks and traffic. In 2012,
I was traveling by bus from the North down to the South, I wanted to buy a milk
drink since I was exhausted, the seller offered it to me at a ridiculous price
lower than what it is being sold, so I offered to buy knowing something was
wrong! After examining the product, I thought I was wrong and maybe he was a
distributor, so I opened the cap, only to find the shock of my life! The foil
used to seal the drink had been carefully sewn back with a tiny thread! Which means
they had refilled with some watery milk sweetened with sugar, I was furious but
I was in a park, raising alarm was not a sane option. Besides, if I get back to
office, the guy is not traceable, he is just selling around and can easily deny
the allegation, I took the bottle though and brought it to my colleagues to
report the case.
So I thought it was just that one time and I didn’t need to
raise alarm but guess what, I was very wrong! There is a coordinated
adulteration of popular brands of drinks and water and most of these are sold
in the parks, chilled and well corked like it as original. So I was to board
from the same park last Monday and I wanted an orange fruit drink, so I asked
for one, lo and behold the coloration gave the drink away, I asked her to bring
another one, it was the same, I told her to wait, got about four other sellers
and it was the same! They were all selling the adulterated product and they may
not even know it! The people in the bus and park thought I didn’t know what I was
saying since all the products we got looked the same, so I bought one as
evidence since I won’t want to identify myself in a park. Ten minutes later,
another seller came around, her drink was twenty naira more expensive, lo and
behold, it was the original. That was when drama started, the other passengers
wanted to know how I was able to identify the adulterated, I told them it was
my regular drink, so I was used to it. In order to be suure, we bought the
original and made different people taste, it was obvious someone got oranges
and squeezed them into the bottles and added little sugar compared with the
taste of original product. Hell went loose immediately, they looked for the
other sellers, it became a problem they interrogated them, wanted to arrest
them and it became a noise, it was a big relief when our bus was ready and we
left them there. I’m sure the authorities of the park were ready to find out
the truth.
As if that was not enough, a colleague who is used to taking
a particular brand of water reported it having a funny taste, after close
examination, we found the unimaginable, the product had very funny
characteristics but since investigation is still on going, I’ll reserve comment
on this. But this brings to mind my experience at Iwo road in Ibadan in a
traffic, I called for water and bough the brand I thought I was sure of, the
guy collected the money and bolted, I thought he was just in a hurry but
immediately I tried opening the bottle, I found the cork had been opened and
the water was a refill, I threw away the bottle but became aware that there
might be trouble in what we buy in traffic.
Having said all of these, you may think I want you to panic
right, you are very right, please panic! So many things are unsure in what you
eat and this in itself is a big risk we should not overlook. The open food
market is not regulated and we all are victims of what we buy from them. I implore
you to look out for safe food stores around you, I am aware that some already
exists but I am sure of a few that will open in June, buy your food products
from there and when you do, ask if they know the safety level of what they are
selling. Don’t buy drinks from hawkers and street guys again, aside the
adulteration I mentioned above, you don’t even know if they have a communicable
disease that they can transfer to you. Get a traceable shop to by your drinks
and I also implore middle sales men and marketers to always take note of what
they are being supplied, raise alarm over any changes you notice and get
clarification. Companies that are aware that their products are being adulterated
should also work with relevant agencies to fish out the perpetrators of this
evil. Experience has shown me that usually, these miscreants have a connection
with the company whose product they adulterate.
Finally, your life is important and greatly influenced by
what you eat, you cannot be too careful!
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