Evaluation of Food Safety and Quality Regulations in Nigeria

Festus Okechukwu Ukwueze

doi:10.7176/jlpg/92-15

Abstract

Ensuring high level of food safety and quality is necessary to provide adequate protection for consumers. Unsafe and poor quality food products have dire negative impacts on the economy and public well-being, which justifies government intervention in every country to ensure food safety. This study doctrinally interrogates the legal and institutional framework for food safety and quality in Nigeria with a view to ascertain whether extant laws and regulatory institutions put in place to regulate food safety and quality in the country are adequate. Keywords: Consumer protection, Food regulation, Food safety, Nigeria. DOI : 10.7176/JLPG/92-15 Publication date: December 31 st 2019

Highlights

Since ancient time, producers of food products have attempted to alter lower the quality of their products and still obtain good prices for them by adding worthless substances or by withholding the addition of valuable substances into the product, such as by adding water to wine, skimming cream from milk and adding chalk to bread.1 regulation became necessary, the public interest, to govern what could or could not be added to food products to protect consumers from unsafe food products
This study doctrinally interrogates the legal and institutional framework for food safety and quality in Nigeria with a view to ascertain whether extant laws and regulatory institutions put in place to regulate food safety and quality in the country are adequate
Conclusion there is adequate legislation and agencies for the regulation of food safety in Nigeria but there a lot of similarities in the subject matters covered by some of the statutes. This creates an overlap in the functions of the administering agencies

Summary

Introduction

Producers of food products have attempted to alter lower the quality of their products and still obtain good prices for them by adding worthless substances or by withholding the addition of valuable substances into the product, such as by adding water to wine, skimming cream from milk and adding chalk to bread.1 regulation became necessary, the public interest, to govern what could or could not be added to food products to protect consumers from unsafe food products.

Results

Conclusion