Consumers’ health is a priority – Agric Minister

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh has said that the safety of food consumed needs to be given priority attention.

Ogbeh, who made this statement while examining the new model of grinding machine for soup condiments in Abuja, decried the alarming increase in food poisoning cases in the country which he opined could be as a result of the metal chips in grinding machines that operate by friction.

“The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has interest, not just in agriculture but in food and health. All kinds of self-poisoning is going on, and is related to how we process and package our food”, he said.

The minister stressed the need for a campaign against food poisoning and intimated that the mode of food processing is very important to the ministry.

He also pointed out his concerns about the increase in reported cases of liver and kidney problems among children and youths.

“Ironically, it is young people that come down with kidney and liver problems. Many of these people don’t drink alcohol. We have to get rid of metal poisoning, polypropylene and review how fish is smoked. Poisoning, a lot of these is something the ministry is working on slowly”.