By Kamil Opeyemi
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has certified that Golden Penny Semovita and other Semolina products do not contain plastic or any similar contaminants.
The agency said this is in response to a social media video showing a woman washing Golden Penny Semovita in a sieve using cold water with the claim that the residue she got after sieving was plastic.
NAFDAC noted that a similar video was shown in 2020 which the agency had addressed at the time.
NAFDAC Director General, Prof. Moji Adeyeye, in a statement on Monday, said the agency confirmed that the claim was not true after an appropriate analytical testing in its internationally accredited laboratories.
The agency added that Semovita contained the expected components plus the required Vitamin A, describing the claim in the viral video as misleading.
“NAFDAC therefore wishes to inform the general public that the claim in the social media video assertions is misleading.
“The alleged Golden Penny Semovita is a brand of Semolina, a very popular flour made from wheat and consumed in several parts of the world.
“Semolina contains mainly water, carbohydrates and about 13 per cent of gluten-forming proteins.
“Gluten is made up of two classes of proteins – glutenin and gliadin, which upon addition to water combines to form gluten, a protein that gives nutritive value and imparts other characteristic properties to the product.
“Glutenin normally gives a bread though the ability to rise during baking while gliadin gives it the viscous and elastic (viscoelastic) properties, or it simply makes it extensible and elastic.
“This latter property is the rubbery/plastic-like appearance that was exhibited in the said video, Semovita has no plastic content in it,” Adeyeye stressed.
She said that the content only exhibits viscous and elastic properties, and that the rubbery-like material that was observed in the video after many washings with water is the gluten that formed after the gluten-forming proteins get mixed with water.
She said that Golden Penny Semovita is manufactured by Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc., a registered company which has been granted marketing authorization by NAFDAC to manufacture the product and offer for sale in Nigeria.
According to her, the company’s operations were certified by NAFDAC after meeting the requirements of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and the relevant Nigerian Industrial Standards (NIS).
She said that NAFDAC wishes to reassure the public that Golden Penny Semovita and indeed all other Semolina products registered by the agency are safe for human consumption having been approved by the agency.
She said that the approved product had all followed science-driven regulatory diligence of the agency, and that there is no cause for apprehension by consumers as such approved products are manufactured in line with GMP.
Adeyeye said that the products had also complied with the Nigerian Industrial Standards, which had continuously being monitored by NAFDAC.
She therefore implored members of the public to exercise discretion in the use of social media to address any suspicion they may have on regulated products.
She stated that social media has the tendency to cause fear and panic, urging the public to contact the nearest NAFDAC office if they observed a similar situation.
Adeyeye urged the public to contact NAFDAC, via online channels at reforms@nafdac.gov.ng Or Call: 0800-1-NAFDAC (0800-1-623322) for immediate response.
“Members of the public are implored to exercise discretion in the use of social media to address any suspicion they may have on regulated products. Resorting to social media has the tendency to cause fear and panic,” she added