Nigeria exceeds WHO food safety target, says FG
The federal government says Nigeria is now performing above the World Health Organization (World Health Organization) food safety benchmark for low- and middle-income countries, following improvements in its national surveillance and response systems.
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, disclosed this on Monday during the 2026 World Food Safety Day commemoration held in Abuja, themed “From Burden to Solutions – Safe Food Everywhere.”
He said Nigeria’s 2025 State Party Annual Report (SPAR) score of Level 3 places the country ahead of WHO’s expected threshold for food safety performance in comparable regions, noting that the country now has stronger systems for detecting, reporting, and responding to foodborne disease outbreaks.
According to him, coordination has improved under the National Food Safety Management Committee, while the 2023 National Integrated Guidelines for Foodborne Disease Surveillance and Response now support a unified framework covering surveillance, laboratory confirmation, outbreak investigation, traceback, food recalls, and risk communication.
Dr. Salako said food safety remains a national development priority, warning that unsafe food continues to pose a major global health burden, with an estimated 866 million illnesses and 1.5 million deaths annually. He added that Africa carries the highest per-capita burden, with young children most affected.
He disclosed that Nigeria records nearly 50 million cases of foodborne illnesses yearly, leading to over 53,000 deaths, with children under five accounting for more than 80 percent of cases. He also highlighted diarrhoeal pathogens such as Salmonella, E. coli, Campylobacter, Shigella, and Rotavirus as major contributors.
The minister further raised concerns about chemical contamination, including lead exposure from contaminated food and water sources, which he said contributes significantly to disability and premature death.
“These statistics underscore the urgent need to strengthen food safety systems across the entire food value chain,” he said, calling for improved surveillance, better hygiene in informal markets, stronger sanitation systems, expanded laboratory capacity, and enhanced coordination across sectors.
