The Consumer Protection Council said on Wednesday in Makurdi that 500 people died between 2006 and 2007 from contaminated food related complications.

The Director-General, Mrs. Ify Umenyi, disclosed this in Makurdi at the opening ceremony of a three-day National Workshop on “Quality and Safety of Street Vended Food‘‘, citing a survey by the Federal Ministry of Health.

She noted that in Nigeria, like in other parts of the world, the number of persons who ate at least one meal a day outside their homes was on the increase.

According to her, the desire of food vendors to take advantage of the growing population of their patrons and maximise profit has taken a negative toll on food preparation, packaging and presentation.

“The effect of all these is the upsurge in the cases of food-borne diseases and the number of consumer complaints received by organisations like the CPC in respect of injuries suffered from the consumption of contaminated foods,” she said.

She said a survey carried out by the Department of Public Health of the Federal Ministry of Health in 2006 and 2007 traced the death of over 500 Nigerians to cases of food borne diseases.

“Similarly, the result of a survey of Abuja, FCT, conducted by my Council in 2008, showed among others, that the quality and safety of street vended foods in contemporary Nigeria could jeopardise the health of our consumers,” she said.

Umenyi said the workshop, organised in conjunction with the National Orientation Agency and the office of the First Lady of Benue State, was intended to train Environmental Health Officers and food vendors on best practices.

I walked into the cinema to see African"s finest movie of the year ""DISTRICT 9"" but to my greatest surprise I watched my country being black painted. It was meant to be a sci-fi, but they had criminals and prostitute-like girls being verbally described as Nigerians and the leader of the criminal gang was referred to as Obasanjo. What a shock, just weeks ago I read a Sony PS ad referring to all of us as scammers, and today a movie describing us as the same produced by Sony Pictures Entertainment,.
I am angry, where is our foreign ministry, only the information ministry writes against and defend the good Nigerians in foreign matters, IS THE FOREIGN MINISTER DEAD?!!!, 20 Nigerians Are on death row in Libya, only an organisation could write to stop it, A Nigerian killed in China, a Nigerian killed in Austria, A Nigerian molested against in Germany, in Italy all over the world. No one says nothing. the embassies are sleeping and chatting offices, The same generation that destroyed us remain our ambassadors, they"ve got NO LOVE FOR THE NATION. The Germans responded to an ad referring to Adoph Hitler as a killer through HIV, The Indians responded sharply when a bollywood movie star was stopped from entering the US, But the minister of information begs when our name is being robbished, at least she tried but the foreign ministry as done nothing at least not to my hearing.
I for one loves Nigeria and Africa, but most of us do sometimes forget who we truly are, there were some Nigerians acting as criminals in the movie portraying us as criminals, is"nt that a sell out of our birth rites?
WAKE UP NIGERIANS, THOUGH WE STRUGGLE TO BE STABLE, DARKNESS DOES NOT LAST TOO LONG, MORNING SHALL ALWAYS PREVAIL AND THEN WE WILL LIVE TRYING TO BUY BACK OUR SOLD AWAY DESTINY. WAKE UP MY PEOPLE, STOP THE WORLD FROM USING OUR WEAKNESS AGAINT US.