Oluwatobi Adu 
ABUJA, Nigeria – NAFDAC has disowned a viral social media list purporting to identify fake, adulterated or substandard products in Nigeria, warning that treating the unauthorised list as an official alert could trigger public panic and harm legitimate businesses.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control said on Thursday that the circulating list did not originate from the agency and should not be regarded as an official regulatory alert, recall notice or safety communication.
The warning was contained in a statement issued by NAFDAC’s Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola.
The agency said it does not declare products fake, adulterated or unsafe based on unverified claims circulating on social media. Such regulatory conclusions, it explained, follow established procedures, including investigation, sampling and, where necessary, scientific and laboratory analysis.
NAFDAC urged Nigerians to disregard the viral list and avoid circulating it as an official government publication.
The agency warned that accepting unverified claims as regulatory findings could create unnecessary fear among consumers while causing reputational and commercial damage to legitimate manufacturers, distributors and retailers.
It also cautioned that misinformation about regulated products could influence consumer behaviour, disrupt legitimate businesses and undermine confidence in products that have passed the appropriate regulatory processes. “For the avoidance of doubt: the viral list did not emanate from NAFDAC. Members of the public are urged to disregard it in its entirety and not circulate it as an official NAFDAC publication,” the agency said.
NAFDAC advised consumers, healthcare professionals, manufacturers, distributors and other stakeholders to rely on its official communication channels for information concerning product alerts, recalls, withdrawals, suspensions and other regulatory actions.
The agency also encouraged Nigerians to continue reporting suspected counterfeit, adulterated or substandard products, noting that such reports can provide useful regulatory intelligence.
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