By Correspondent in Minna
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has destroyed expired and substandard products including; Fair and White cream (cosmetic), canned food, asorted types of beverages, ice cream cones and bread leavening enhancers worth about N2 million in Niger state.
Other products also destroyed after raiding some Markets, lock-up Shops and Supermarkets in Minna and environs include; electrical cables, different brands of addictives and fairly used (tokumbo) automobile tyres of various sizes and brands.
Our Correspondent reports that over 434 items, confiscated since 2019, were destroyed at the state dump site located at Maikunkele area in Bosso Local Government Area of Niger state, SON State Coordinator, 1 office, Mrs. Hauwa Nuhu Yusuf said.
She said, “SON is set to lay an example encouraging only products that are good for consumption, adding that “consumable and non-consumabl products found to be harmful cannot be allowed to circulate within the jurisdiction.”
Most of the products seized, according to her were expired products that were removed from Supermarkets, lock-up shops and automobile shops in the case of the different types of automobile tyres.
“Because destroying the tyres will pose pollution to the environment, we have an understanding with NSREA to give the tyres to recycling plants which will recycle them but for the other items not fit for consumptions, they will be destroyed”.
According to the State Coordinator 1, “After the market surveillance where, the products were seized, samples were taken to the laboratory for conformity evaluation and they came out to be very bad for human consumption and harmful to the skin, in the case of the cream”.
Warning the general public on the need to always take note of the ‘best before expiry dates’ whenever they want to make choices of products, Yusuf said such expired products, if consumed, could cause users to end up in the hospital or even lose their lives.
She further explained that the shops and Supermarket where the harmful and sub-standard products were found were also sanctioned and sensitized as majority of them lacked knowledge of what is expired or that are no longer consumable.
