Benson Idahosa Varsity faults
NAFDAC on clearance to consume
Fanta, Sprite

Posted By: The Health Dialogue  on: March 29, 2017
In:

BENIN—BENSON Idahosa University, BIU, Benin City,
Edo State, has faulted the Federal Government’s
clearance that Fanta and Sprite beverages were good
for consumption, insisting that the information or data
provided by the government on the beverages fell
short of addressing the safety concerns raised in
court. It will be recalled that a Lagos High Court had
ordered the National Agency for Food Drug
Administration and Control, NAFDAC, to compel the
Nigeria Bottling Company, NBC, the manufacturer of
Fanta and Sprite, to include a written warning label
that the content of the two products should not be
taken with Vitamin C.
However, at a media briefing held in the institution,
some scientists at the BIU, led by the Vice Chancellor,
Prof. Ernest Izevbigie, raised concern over the clean
bill of health given to Nigerians to consume Fanta and
Sprite, saying that as an ivory tower, the institution
owed the society a responsibility to provide expert
opinion on the matter. Prof Izevbigie, who is a
professor of Biochemistry, said answers provided to
questions such as the presence and amount of
colourant in Fanta, the presence and concentration of
benzoic acid or sodium benzoate in the two beverages
and the presence and concentration of benzene that
results from conversion of benzoic acid to benzene,
were not satisfactory.
He said that the colourant used in Fanta, the yellow
sunset, had been implicated in cytotoxicity,
carcinogenesis, allergies and hyper activity in children
when the right amount is not used. On benzoic acid,
he said the Federal Ministry of Health has explanation
to give on why standard given for it in soft drinks was
put at 250mg/kg as opposed to 150mg/kg that was
obtainable in the United Kingdom and Ghana. Prof
Izevbigie, who noted that though the Nigerian standard
was high owing to high temperature and that it still
falls within the international standard, said
pasteurization and the use of carbon dioxide can
achieve the same goal as the use of high benzoic acid
without the added health risks.

Source: Dailytimes

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