Contrary to claims made by one Mrs. Chioma Egodi on Facebook about the state of a tin tomato product named NAGIKO Tomato Mix 400g, the Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency, LASCOPA has declared that the product is safe for consumption and does not pose any health hazard to the consuming public.
A statement signed by the General Manager of LASCOPA, Afolabi Solebo said the certification by LASCOPA about the product follows the outcome of the laboratory tests which the product was subjected to upon the complaint from the consumer.
According to him, to authenticate her claim, LASCOPA had embarked on an independent investigation by inviting Erisco Foods Nigeria Limited, the producer of the product and Egodi to two different meetings held on the 3rd and 10th of October, 2023.
In his words, “The outcome of the meetings informed the decision of LASCOPA to request for samples of the product which were subsequently taken to the laboratory for test and analysis as well as to ascertain the conformity of the sets of parameters of the product samples to establish if the product is safe for consumption or otherwise”.
“It must be noted that two samples of the product were taken from Erisco Foods Company and another two sets of samples were obtained from a market survey by LASCOPA to balance and ensure a true reflection of the state of the product from both the company and the market.
“The laboratory analysis of the two sets of samples collected for Microbial and Physicochemical tests showed that the product passed all the tested parameters and it is safe for consumption based on the outcome of the test conducted”, he added.
Recall that Egodi Mrs. Chioma Egodi, had on September 17th, 2023 raised concern about the product through a Facebook post, alleging that the said product has a sugary taste.