‘There is no plastic fish in Nigeria,’ – NAFDAC shrugs rumour
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has dismissed rumours of plastic fish in Nigeria.
The Agency’s spokesman, Dr. Abubakar Jimoh, in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, said there is no plastic fish in circulation in Nigeria. And its finding followed “a thorough investigation and analysis of some unsuspected plastic fish samples’’ in its laboratory.
He said that “the investigation was triggered by a report from a consumer in Abuja who claimed that he bought a fish which refused to cook when set on fire for several minutes.
“The suspected sample of the fish, after thorough investigation, was confirmed to contain protein and fat which is normal to fish.
“The fish was, however, found to be unwholesome due to serious bacterial contamination, NAFDAC said.
“While encouraging Nigerians to watch carefully the kind of fish they buy, it is however important to stress that there is no plastic fish in Nigeria.’’
The management noted that few weeks ago, there had been the circulation of suspected plastic fish in some parts of the world on the social media but stressed that no single case had been found in Nigeria, so far.
The agency urged Nigerians to“ report any suspected unwholesome product, including fish to the nearest NAFDAC office for further investigation’’.
A Nigerian Twitter user identified as Muhammad Salame previously shared photos of alleged plastic fish he bought in abuja that took forever to cook.
Muhammad Salame shared photos of the iced-fish he bought, adding that he cooked it for hours but it refused to get done. The photos went viral.
Muhammed had written:
Bought a frozen fish but it’s been cooking forever and still not ready… Just then realised it’s a fake fish The bone is plastic and the flesh is form…. Lesson: Always buy fresh from local market.
The fish is called : Meluza
With @NafdacAgency now at the shop I bought the fish… Pursuing this to the Importerthe seller is not even aware of what he is selling to the public .
