At least 200,000 Nigerians die from food poisoning annually: official

At least 200,000 Nigerians die annually from food poisoning, a worrisome development which the government is working to reverse, an official said on Thursday, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

Also, the most populous African country records up to 90,000 cases of food-borne disease yearly, said Bitrus Nabasu, Nigeria's permanent secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Speaking at a food safety workshop in the central Nigerian state of Nasarawa, Nabasu said a lot of measures are being taken to tackle the problem.

Food poisoning is caused by contamination during food processing and preservation.

To tackle this, the official said appropriate authorities in the country such as the Standards Organization of Nigeria and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, among others, now pay greater attention to food safety issues.

An arrangement is in top gear by the government to partner with relevant stakeholders in the food processing and production chain to provide scientific evidence-based data, he said.

"It would be useful in the elaboration of food standards by local and global food standards-setting bodies," he added.

The official urged Nigerians to ensure that foods are free from contamination before consumption.