The Oyo State Government announced on Monday the prohibition of styrofoam for food services, storage, and other related purposes.
On Thursday, February 8, 2024, it was reported that the state House of Assembly had urged the state government to ban the use of styrofoam for food serving purposes across the state.
To oversee the enforcement of food safety rules and regulations in the state, it inaugurated the Food Safety Compliance Enforcement Task Force.
During the Food Safety Stakeholders Forum, the state Commissioner for Health, Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, announced the decision to uphold food safety standards in the state during the inauguration of the task force at the conference room of the ministry, Secretariat, Agodi in Ibadan.
The Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Akintunde Ayinde, represented by Ajetunmobi, emphasized the importance of adhering strictly to food standards to save lives in the state, stating that prevention is better and cheaper than cure.
He observed that the state is facing great public health concerns due to the menace of food poisoning, indiscriminate use of chemical products for food production, processing, packaging, and other sharp practices by food business operators.
The commissioner clarified that the task force would educate all stakeholders along the food chain about the government's emphasis on implementing food safety standards.
Earlier, Afusat Akande, the director of food, water, and laboratory services in the ministry, emphasized the fundamental criteria that stakeholders in the food chain must fulfill to obtain certification.
Akande detailed that the requirements involved routine medical fitness certificates from designated state government hospitals, evidence of regular fumigation of production premises by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources recognized consultant, and water quality analysis by the Ministry of Health recognized consultant, among other stipulations.
The leader of the task force, Ayinde, who is the permanent secretary, committed to working with the ministry to achieve its set objective.
In January, the Lagos State Government started the ban on the use and distribution of Styrofoam and other single-use plastics across the state.
