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+--- Thread: Nigerian regulator raises concern on Lucozade, Mirinda, clears Fanta, Sprite (/showthread.php?tid=2467)
Nigerian regulator raises concern on Lucozade, Mirinda, clears Fanta, Sprite - Mhiz Rebecca - 04-14-2017
The Consumer Protection Council,
CPC, has called for further
investigation of soft drinks sold in
Nigeria, following the discovery that
the benzoic acid in Mirinda (a
product of Seven Up Bottling
Company) and Lucozade (a product
of Suntory) is higher than the
Nigerian regulatory standard of
250mg/kg.
The benzoic levels of both drinks are
said to be up to 330mg/kg and
323.53mg/kg respectively.
Efforts to reach the manufacturers of
the soft drinks were unsuccessful.
They did not respond to questions
sent to them through their official
emails.
The CPC made the disclosure on
Tuesday during a press briefing on
the outcome of its investigation into
possible safety issues in Fanta, Sprite
and other select soft drinks, while
canvassing for regulatory review and
actions for safer soft drinks in
Nigeria.
The Council’s investigation was in
reaction to a judgement at a Lagos
State High Court in a suit between
Fijabi Adebo Holdings Limited and
Emmanuel Fijabi Adebo against the
Nigerian Bottling Company Ltd, and
the National Agency for Food and
Drug Administration and Control,
which alleged that Fanta Orange and
Sprite may be hazardous due to their
incompatibility with the Benzoic Acid
standards in the United Kingdom.
The Court had ordered the National
Agency for Food, Drug
Administration and Control, NAFDAC,
to direct the Nigeria Bottling
Company Plc., manufacturers of
Fanta and Sprite soft drinks, to
include a warning on the bottles of
the products that the content cannot
be taken with Vitamin C.
The CPC director general, Dupe
Atoki, who was later removed by
President Muhammadu Buhari on
Thursday, asserted that the levels of
two additives, Benzoic Acid and
Sunset Yellow, in Fanta and Sprite
were confirmed through laboratory
analysis to be within the Nigerian
Industrial Standards (NIS) limits.
The Nigerian Bottling Company had
earlier said the amount of the
chemicals were within Nigerian
regulatory standards.
Ms. Atoki said though the additives were within
the NIS limits, other issues of significantly low
and inconsistent levels of the Benzoic Acid in
some samples of Fanta Orange, Sprite, Mirinda
and Lucozade tested during the course of the
investigation, have thrown up the need for further
investigative analysis and action.
The former director general, who disclosed that
NAFDAC and SON have been informed about the
outcome of the investigation, stated that the
Council has also recommended regulatory action
and review of the “Benzoic Acid limits in soft
drinks as the current standard, which has been in
existence since 2008 is overdue for review”,
particularly with the requirement for reviews
pegged for every five years.
In the light of the high level of Benzoic Acid found
in isolated cases of Seven up and Lucozade tested,
she said the CPC has called for further regulatory
investigative analysis, action and review.
On Sunset Yellow, she noted that the Council also
recommended “regulatory action for a review of
the standard as some countries have reduced the
approved limit, some have labelling requirements
for its use, while some others have adopted its
outright ban.”
The director general disclosed that CPC, in
commencing its investigation, obtained from the
open market in eight locations within the six
geopolitical zones of Nigeria, 65 samples of the
soft drinks.
The council had earlier hinted that it will carry
out a thorough investigation into soft drinks in
Nigeria in the interest of the public.