The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has said that alcohol content in sachets or small bottles of less than 200ml is 30 per cent.
The agency asserted that the percentage is too high whilst also pointing out that beer contains only four to eight per cent alcohol.
NAFDAC disclosed this information in a press statement made available to Naija News.
In a statement tagged “What Nigerians should know about alcohol in sachet and less than 200 ml PET bottles, ” the Head of Public Relations Office, NAFDAC, Christiana Obiazikwor, explained that the agency did not ban alcohol production in bigger bottles.
Recall that the agency had announced the ban on alcohol in sachets and small bottles.
However, the announcement generated repeated protests by distillers and labour unions, who said the move would cost 500,000 workers their jobs.
Speaking on the situation, NAFDAC explained that Nigeria was one of the 193 Member States of the World Health Organisation that reached a historical consensus on a global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol by adopting resolution WHA63.13 at the Sixty-third session of the World Health Assembly.
The statement read, “NAFDAC did not ban alcohol production in bigger bottles. The Agency only banned alcohol in containers or packing that a child can easily conceal, I.e., sachet or PET bottles less than 200ml
“The alcoholic content in sachet or PET bottles less than 200ml is 30 per cent. Beer has four to eight per cent alcohol.
“The Association of Food, Beverage & Tobacco Employers and Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria signed an agreement with MOH and NAFDAC in December 2018 that they will phase out production of alcohol in sachet and PET bottles less than 200 ml by January 31, 2024. The agreement document is available. A five-year phase-out notice should be sufficient.”
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