Our Bread Good For Health, Producers Counter NAFDAC

Bread makers under the aegis of the Premium Bread makers Association of Nigeria, PBAN has denied compromising the standard of bread consumed by Nigerians.

In spite of the fact that the price of bread has been hiked by over 100 percent in the last few months it still remains one of the staples of many Nigerians, according to analysts who insist that some bread producers have been compromising quality due to high cost of ingredients used in making bread.

The President of PBAN, Emmanuel Onuorah, told the Vanguard that his members are people of integrity who cannot endanger the lives of Nigerians by cutting corners when it comes to the quality of bread.

The denial comes on the heels of an allegation by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, which claimed last week that bread makers have reduced the quality of the commodity due to the high cost of ingredients.

Roseline Ajayi, NAFDAC Southwest Coordinator, said during a stakeholders meeting in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital that the bread makers were endangering the health of consumers by compromising quality.

Ajayi said, “Recently, we observed that bread sold in the markets is failing laboratory tests because producers are using saccharine due to the high cost of sugar.

“They are introducing ingredients that are not good for the health of the consumers.”

Reacting to the allegation, Onuorah said his members “do not use unwholesome materials to produce” bread for consumers.

According to him, bread makers would rather increase the price of the commodity than compromise quality.

Nigerians have been complaining of the hike in the price of bread in the last few months, a situation bread makers blamed on the cost of ingredients.

Responding, Onuorah said, “PBAN members do not use unwholesome materials to produce our bread, we are very mindful of the quality of bread we produce for consumers knowing the negative health implications of the use of unwholesome baking materials to bake bread.

“We would rather adjust the price of our bread to maintain quality, rather than use unwholesome material to produce bread that will cause health problems to Nigerians.

“In PBAN, we have our Compliance Unit that monitors the materials that our members use to produce. Our constitution empowers the Exco to report any of our members found using unwholesome materials to bake bread to our regulator, NAFDAC.”