Kano Grain Dealers, FFPIS Intercept 1,600 Contaminated Bags of Wheat

Ahmad Sorondinki in Kano

The Dawanau International Market Association in collaboration with Federal Farm Produce Inspection Service (FFPIS), yesterday  displayed over 1,600 bags of contaminated wheat in Kano.

Speaking with newsmen in Kano, shortly after the display, the President of the Association, Muttaka Isa, said two warehouses with about 2,000 bags of wheat suspected to be substandard were sealed by the association.

Isa vowed to sanction any trader involved in bringing substandard grains or other food items to the market.

He said: “The crackdown on the perpetrators began after over 50 containers of products from the market, believed to have been adulterated, were rejected by some international customers.”

The market leaders added that the association has set up a committee to identify and fish out the culprits for necessary sanctions and prosecution.

Speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Farm Produce Inspection Service (FFPIS), Hajiya Fatima Yakubu,  lamented how some disgruntled market dealers were involved in the unwholesome act of displaying contaminated food.

While lamenting the high cost of food items, Yakubu said the agency has been working assiduously with all stakeholders to ensure that the menace of food adulteration is being addressed in Kano State.

His words: “The way and manner food merchants get involved in food adulteration is very alarming; I am appealing to food commodity merchants to please, as a matter of urgency desist from this negative attitude, and we would not relent in fighting the ugly trend.”

The  Chairman Board of Trustees, Abdullahi Maidoya was accompanied by the officials of (NAFDAC),FFPIS, Police and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to the market.

However, officials of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) took samples of the suspected substandard products to test their quality through the laboratory.

“We have come, we have seen and sampled the products. We shall send to the laboratory and wait for the results and write our report. If the products are fine, they would be allowed in the market, if the result is otherwise, we shall go ahead and carry out destruction,” Kano State Coordinator of NAFDAC, Kasim Ibrahim, said.