From frozen foods to frozen death

Nigerians have formed the habit of consuming imported frozen foods, despite the health hazards of such habit. While these foods have been linked with certain terminal diseases, EMMANUEL ADENIYI asked, in this report, whether it is not wise for many in the country to heed medical advice and desist from consuming them.
SPONSORED by the Poultry Farmers Association of Nigeria (PFAN), the radio commercial always hits the airwaves, especially in the South-West, with such an irresistible force. If your attention is not caught by its theatrics, you cannot escape the emotional appeal it makes and the value-laden message it conveys.
Though considered a highly sentimental piece or propaganda, probably because of the sponsor, its shadow message is instructive, commonsensical and cannot be wished away.
In the commercial is a dramatisation
of a husband’s hatred for imported frozen chicken and turkey as well as his preference for frozen foods processed locally. It took the husband more than intelligence to convince his wife to see the health risks involved in eating imported frozen foods obtained from obscure sources, though the wife – out of ignorance – had gone to the market and bought frozen turkey to prepare a delicious meal for her family.
Beyond the sphere of advertising, which many view as opinionated and guilty of subjectivity, various reports across the country have – at recent times – revealed that imported frozen foods are highly injurious to human health, as many of them are processed or preserved with carcinogenic substances, while most of the foods are not kept in right conditions.
It will be recalled that the chairman, Poultry Farmers Association of Nigeria (PFAN), Mr John Olateru, disclosed in an interview recently that 90 per cent of 130,000 metric tonnes of frozen chicken imported by the Republic of Benin in 2012 was smuggled into Nigeria, adding that most of the chicken were discovered to have dangerous substances in them.
Coveting smuggled foods
“Last year alone, the Republic of Benin imported 130,000 metric tonnes of frozen chicken. From our investigation and the data we are able to get, 90 per cent of that was smuggled into the country. The worst thing is that through this illegal deal, they break the cold chain of the chicken.
“When you break the cold chain, the status of the product is reduced. That is why they use the chemical used in preserving corpses to preserve the frozen chicken. In spite of this, you see some of the chicken already decomposed and our people still buy. Our people don’t know the implication of this.
The chemical used in preserving the chicken can cause cancer. Cancer is building gradually and it takes time to develop,” he disclosed.
The PFAN’s submission was also corroborated by the Director-General of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Mr Onallo Akpa, who averred the health risks and economic loss inherent in importing or smuggling frozen foods into the country.
He said, “over 3 million metric tonnes of poultry left-overs from Europe were smuggled into Nigeria in three years. Nigerians consume these unwholesome products that lack the chain of cold preservation process, which were finally embalmed with chemicals meant for preserving dead human bodies.”
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), through its Public Relations Officer, Ernest Olottah, also said recently that it intercepted 286 cartons of poultry products valued at N2.1 million, while a statistics from the office of the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU), zone ‘A’ command, revealed that a total of 166,000 cartons of frozen products were seized between January and August this year, including 45,993 cartoons of assorted frozen products with Duty Paid Value (DPV) of over N200 millon.
Nigerians eat anything!
While speaking with Sunday Tribune, a poultry farmer in Osogbo, Osun State, Chief Martins Ayinde, said he still found it incomprehensible why some people in the country would go for rotten chicken and turkey, despite various campaigns against the consumption of such foods.
“Our people don’t mind what they eat. They eat whatever comes their way. Little wonder we keep hearing of those diseases that were alien to us many years ago. The fact is that you can’t be eating badly processed foods and not have health challenges.”
Another poultry farmer at Tinuade Farms, Ikorodu, Mr Godwin Ihenacho, disclosed that most of the imported frozen foods lacked freshness which the ones produced locally had, adding that the preservatives used on them would have penetrated the foods, even if they were produced under right conditions.
“When you taste them; you will discover they have lost their freshness and even taste stale in the mouth, while some of them give off offensive odour. What baffles one, however, is that going to supermarkets or roadside sellers to buy frozen turkey or chicken has also become a status symbol among Nigerians.
“Many even see it as a way to show off or prove that their economic status has improved, hence the need to abandon fish, the food of the poor, for imported turkey and chicken. You would feel ashamed for the ignorance of our people at social functions, as they eat these foods to their peril.
“Locally produced turkeys or chickens are fresh; no preservatives are used. They are only refrigerated and kept in good sanitary conditions, because it is expected that within two or three days they would have been bought and consumed.
“So, we don’t use any preservatives at all. When you place locally produced turkey or chicken side by side the imported one, you will spot the difference. Most of the imported ones have green-like lines on them. Besides, their looks always betray them.
“Having spent too much time on the high sea in a cramped condition, their colour will have turned pale or greyish brown. In fact, most of them spend months in transit, yet that is what our people take delight in eating; it is pathetic,” he lamented.
Why some imported meat are lethal...According to a veterinary doctor at the Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, the University of Ibadan, Dr H.K. Adesokan, the hazards caused by imported frozen foods or the ones produced locally to public health cannot be downplayed, since some of the chemicals used in the production of the animals could form residues in humans and eventually result in public health hazards. 
“There is little or no mechanism at our sea ports to screen or detect the residues of chemicals used in frozen meat being imported to Nigeria, yet the foods find their way to our markets for our consumption. Even the ones produced locally, no one really tests them, let alone find out the level of drug residues in them before they are sold to unwary members of the public.”
Providing insight into the types of chemicals used to preserve these animals, Dr Adesokan explained that “the chemicals can be divided into two: those added to animals’ feeds or injected in them and the preservatives used on the animals’ meat after they are slaughtered. Some of these chemicals can predispose one to cancer or cause hypersensitive reactions and antibiotic resistance in man.
“The relentless drive to produce more animals, by some farmers – either abroad or locally – in less time at lower cost, is responsible for the routine and indiscriminate use of antimicrobial drugs in animal, including arsenicals, antibiotics, and other compounds.
“The concern, therefore, besides the effects on the livestock industry, is the fact that many analogues of these antibiotics are used in disease management in humans and could consequently add to the development of cross-resistance to antimicrobials administered in human health.
“Though the fact that the public may not be aware of the magnitude of the health hazards resulting from consuming meat containing drug residue, that does not imply the adverse effects should not be of serious concern. What often happens is that the chemicals used in the preservation of these foods build up and serve as free agents in the body. Besides, they subsequently break the body down through one disease or another.
“Many a time, drug withdrawal periods are not observed or there is over-dosage or under-dosage of these chemicals when used by quacks. The drugs, therefore, accumulate in the meat obtained from such animals. Possible bioaccumulation occurs when these residues present in the animal tissues accumulate continuously over the lifespan of the individuals through prolonged consumption. This is of potential concern in Nigeria where meat animals constitute major source of animal protein,” the veterinary doctor, who specialises in food hygiene, food safety and zoonoses, added.
A medical doctor at Peace Medicals, Lagos, Dr Tunde Olorundare, declared that lives of many Nigerians have been imperriled, because of their willful consumption of foods which some of them knew were injurious to their health.
“There are free radicals that are formed in the body when these foods are eaten, yet they are derived from the chemicals used to preserve the foods. They are highly toxic and can compromise one’s health easily. In fact, Hepatitis A virus or inflammation of the liver has also been linked with constant consumption of these foods. What about obesity and other health challenges which are numerous to mention?
“When you look at it critically, we need to ask ourselves the sources of cancer, diabetes and other terminal diseases that afflict many Nigerians nowadays. Most of these diseases are not spiritual attacks as some religious leaders have made us to believe, they have their origin in eating foods that have lost their nutrients.
“In essence, Nigerians must be told to eat fresh foods rather than imported foods that have become stale and lost their freshness. This is a bitter pill to swallow, but that is the truth. The right question to ask is would Nigerians have bought and eaten frozen foods that had been preserved for close to 12 months or more than that if they had known?
“Yet, those frozen foods imported or smuggled into the country are kept under insanitary conditions or refrigerated for months. I’m sure if many in the country know this truth, they will desist from eating imported frozen foods,” Dr Olorundare explained.
A cross section of consumers, who spoke with Sunday Tribune at Bodija market, Ibadan, could not tell specifically why they often bought imported frozen foods. Though some said they were not aware of the health hazards of these foods; some, however, disclosed that their love for the foods, was as a result of their accessibility and low price.
While many of the consumers stressed that more sensitisation needed to be provided on the dangers of imported frozen foods, some added that without these foods many families in the country would have been limited to eating ponmo, beske, goalkeeper or take their meals without meat or fish at all.