John Tehinse, a dietician, has warned people against cooking moin-moin and other foods in nylons or cellophane bags as it produces dioxins, a toxic substance that causes cancer.
Tehinse gave the warning on Tuesday in Ilorin at an awareness campaign on food safety organised by the Food Safety Awareness Campaign Initiatives, funded by the European Union.
Moin-moin is a Nigerian steamed bean pudding made from a mixture of washed and peeled black-eyed peas, onions and fresh ground peppers.
It is a protein-rich, staple food in Nigeria and has its origin in West Africa.
In his lecture entitled, he explained that cooking moin-moin, a local delicacy of bean pudding, in nylon had become widespread while people were unaware of the dangers.
The food safety expert said nylons or cellophane bags produced dioxins when heated, adding “they are a group of chemically-related compounds that are persistent environmental pollutants (POPs)”.
Tehinse further warned that dioxins were highly toxic and could cause reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones and also cause cancer.
He advised people to use the traditional leaves to cook the food.
The dietician also called for good food practices in Nigeria and urged restaurant owners to look at the business as public service.
“Food business is not only to make money but a calling to protect public health and ensure what they offer to consumers is safe,” he said.
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Similarly, I would imagine, pure water, which is also packed in polythene sachet, would be subject to this type of chemical contamination.
Many small traders in Nigeria love to display their good across the front of their shops, right out to the roadside.
The bags of “Pure Water” sit all-day-long exposed to the reactive rays of the intense sub-saharan tropical sun.
The taste of the polythene is immediately apparent in products that have been unwittingly degraded in this manner.
It is imperative, as an urgent matter of public health, that educational information, such as as that contained in your article, be broadcast widely.
Unfortunately, such a dispersed population without access to ordinary communication channels such as radio, television, smartphone internet, newspapers, magazines, is difficult to connect with.
State-run local public office initiatives and reaching out through doctors’ surgeries and also pharmacies might be one approach to getting this essential knowledge into the minds of unsuspecting victims at large.
I think it is high time this issue be brought to the front burner, and appropriately tackled. Aside from the health implications of packaging food in plastics these non-degradable polymers are dangerous to the environment, especially as there are no effective and efficient means of disposing them.
Lets join hands in creating more awareness and advocacy for it restrain or ban.