In a fervent display of advocacy, the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), featuring prominent groups such as Project PinkBlue and the Diabetes Association of Nigeria (DAN), took to the streets in protest on Friday.
Their destination: the headquarters of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in Abuja.
Brandishing placards emblazoned with their demands, the protesters voiced their discontent with the inclusion of sugar in baby formula within the country. Central to their outcry was the call for transparent nutrition labeling on these products and a robust regulatory framework enforced by the relevant authorities.
The impetus for this demonstration stemmed from a recent exposé published by The Guardian, a leading UK newspaper. The report revealed the unsettling practice of a prominent consumer goods company adding sugar to baby formula and cereals destined for Nigerian and African markets.
According to NASR spokesperson, Ms. Omei Bongos-Ikwue, one variant of formula sold in Nigeria contained as much as 6.8 grams of sugar per serving, a stark contrast to European counterparts where such formulas are sugar-free. The World Health Organization has decried this incongruity as a double standard.
Joining the chorus of discontent was Gloria Okwu, a NASR Coalition member and Programme Manager at Project Pink Blue. She condemned the endangerment of children’s lives and labeled it as both profiteering and criminal. Okwu highlighted the alarming statistic that one in three deaths in Nigeria is attributed to non-communicable diseases like heart disease and diabetes.
Okwu emphasized the irony of Nigeria’s battle against diet-related conditions such as obesity while simultaneously grappling with under-nutrition as a persistent public health concern.
She cautioned against feeding children high-sugar foods, citing the increased risk of childhood obesity without addressing underlying nutritional deficiencies.
In a poignant reflection, Okwu underscored the universal importance of safeguarding children’s health, asserting that it is a collective responsibility to shield them from diseases and circumstances that could compromise their well-being both presently and in the future. She lamented the rising incidence of diabetes and cancer among children, signaling an urgent need for action to avert this concerning trend.
