We Do Not Have Evidence To Prove GMOs Are Safe For Human Consumption – NAFDAC

Director General Of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has said the agency has no evidence to prove that Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) foods are safe for human consumption.

This was made known by Adeyeye during an interview with Arise News Television, stating that NAFDAC had not conducted extensive research on the safety of GMO products, and the agency does not have evidence to show that GMO products like maize and tomatoes were safe for human consumption.

This was in response to the National Biosafety and Management Agency (NBMA), which, in a corroborative tone with the NBRDA, said that genetically modified crops were safe for human consumption.

GMOs can be used for non-food crops, including to make sure that timber grows better for furniture, rubber plantation and so on. For human consumption, there is no evidence from NAFDAC that it is safe,” she noted.

She said, “Actually, NAFDAC has not done research to this effect. We have biodiversity. I think it is a bioethics or biodiversity agency. We also have a biotechnology agency. We also have the seedling groups that are in charge of seeds. The Ministry of Agric is more into this than NAFDAC, but NAFDAC also is on the lookout.

“We have not registered a single GMO product because we are sensitive about it. We leave the agency that is supposed to take care of it to advise us on good or bad. But right now, we have not done anything.

“In terms of GMOs, we do not think they are safe. We don’t think it is safe for our consumption. That is the position of NAFDAC.

“First, because a lot of research has not been done regarding the safety of GMO products. The genetics of the seeds have been modified. Until we get very convincing data to show the safety for human consumption.

“It is not safe for us from the NAFDAC perspective. GMOs can be used for non-food crops. It can be used to make sure that timber grows better, for furniture, rubber plantation, and things like that. But we don’t have evidence for human consumption that it is safe, and that is where we are.”

NAFDAC has since told the NBMA to withdraw its statement on genetically modified crops as a safe product for human consumption.

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Mayowa Durosinmi

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Mayowa Durosinmi is a Nigerian investigative reporter for West Africa Weekly with reports focusing on politics, human rights, security and health in West Africa and the Sahel region.

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