No going back on ban on bromate in bread, says NAFDAC

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has said the ban on potassium bromate in baking bread across the country remains permanent and irreversible.

NAFDAC’s Director-General, Dr Paul Orhii, said this in his keynote address at the kick-off ceremony of the annual bread monitoring exercise in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Tuesday.

He warned that whoever went against the directive would be prosecuted and urged bakery owners to build on the standards of NAFDAC by upgrading to modern facilities.

He also advised them to stop the use of potassium bromate which can cause abdominal pain, diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting and kidney failure, among other health challenges.

Orhii said the agency had, since 1993, warned against the use of potassium bromate in baking bread in the interest of the people.

He added that the agency would continue with its regulation and enlightenment campaign to create more awareness among bakers and the consuming public.

The Orhii, represented by NAFDAC South-South Zonal Coordinator, Mr Benson Kine, also urged bakers to participate in the bread monitoring exercise which he said would be an annual event.

“The use of potassium bromate in flour milling and bread baking was banned in Nigeria since 1993 and NAFDAC, in its unflinching determination to enforce the ban, has prescribed stiffer penalties, including prosecution of defaulters, to serve as a deterrent.

“In addition, continuous collaboration, dialogue and consultation with the stakeholders, Association of Master Bakers, flower millers, among others, are of strategies to enforce the ban.

"It and is imperative that NAFDAC and master bakers ensure that the quality and safety of bread sold and distributed in Nigeria is produced under satisfactory GHP," he said.

Tribune