The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has said that no plastic material was found in Semovita after a scientific investigation of the substance.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the position was disclosed in a statement published Monday in Abuja and signed by the agency’s Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye.
Adeyeye claimed that a woman’s assertion that she sieved plastic content from semolina in a video posted to social media was the reason for NAFDAC’s post-marketing analysis.
Adeyeye noted that the post-marketing analysis also followed a popular video that went viral in 2020 and displayed a similar situation in a community in the country.
According to the DG, she issued a command to do an immediate post-marketing investigation using numerous brands of Semolina after getting all the notifications from various sources.
She claimed that the agency looked into this claim by carrying out the necessary analytical testing in her internationally authorized labs.
She said that the findings demonstrated that Golden Penny Semovita was free of plastic and other dangerous pollutants, and that it also contained the necessary amounts of Vitamin A in addition to the expected ingredients.
“NAFDAC thus wishes to alert the public that the allegation in the social media video statements is false.
“The purported Golden Penny Semovita is a brand of semolina, a highly well-liked wheat-based flour that is consumed all over the world.
“Semolina’s primary ingredients are water, carbohydrates, and about 13 percent of gluten-forming proteins.”
According to her, the material only demonstrates viscous and elastic capabilities and the rubbery-like substance that was visible on camera following many water washings is gluten which developed when the gluten-forming proteins were combined with water.
She said that Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc is a recognized business that makes Golden Penny Semovita and has been given marketing authorization by NAFDAC to manufacture the product and offer it for sale in Nigeria.
She said that after the company’s operations complied with the necessary Good Manufacturing Practise and Nigerian Industrial Standards standards, NAFDAC granted its operations certification.
NAFDAC, according to her, wants to reassure the public that Golden Penny Semovita and all other semolina products registered by the organization are safe for ingestion by humans because they have received agency approval.
She claimed that “the approved items had all adhered to the agency’s science-driven regulatory diligence and that consumers need not be concerned because they are produced in accordance with GMP.”
Adeyeye claimed that the goods had also met the Nigerian Industrial Standards which NAFDAC had been continually inspecting.
She urged the general people to use social media with caution and to address any concerns they may have about regulated items because social media has the propensity to cause fear and panic.
Lastly, she urged the public to contact NAFDAC, via online channels at [email protected] Or Call: 0800-1-NAFDAC (0800-1-623322) for immediate response.
