The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has disputed allegations that Indomie instant noodles are being banned and has assured customers that the product is safe to eat.
It should be noted that health regulators in Malaysia and Taiwan claimed to have found ethylene oxide, a carcinogenic chemical linked to lymphoid and breast cancer, in the product, prompting a series of inquiries against Indofoods, the product’s maker.
The Malaysian Ministry of Health (MOH) will issue an emergency direction to detain, test, and release the Indomie Special Chicken Flavour instant noodles goods from Malaysia at all nation entry ports.
Despite this warning, the health agency’s Director-General, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, has urged consumers not to be concerned about the South Asian countries’ precautionary measures.
“NAFDAC did not ban Indomie,” Professor Adeyeye told Journalists over the phone on Monday.
“Indomie has been on the government’s prohibition list for many years in order to encourage local manufacturing.”
She also said that the organisation has actions in place to prohibit the entry of certain items from impacted countries.
“NAFDAC has registered several local manufacturers, and the Indomie noodles have been found to be safe,” she said.
“The noodles from Taiwan and Malaysia have nothing to do with our local producers.”
Professor Adeyeye, on the other hand, indicated that the company “is responding to the news as a precautionary post-marketing monitoring measure to ensure that locally-made noodles stay safe.”
According to Channels TV, she also said that NAFDAC would commence random sampling of Indomie noodles, including seasoning, from manufacturing facilities to determine their safety levels for eating.
