Is it safe to drink Fanta and Sprite in Nigeria?

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A recent court case in Nigeria has highlighted concerns that locally made soft drinks may be considered unsafe for human consumption elsewhere, as Ijeoma Ndukwe explains.

There has been uproar in Nigeria after it emerged that the company that manufactures Fanta and Sprite, the Nigeria Bottling Company (NBC), has been ordered by a court to place warning labels on its products, stating that they are unsafe when consumed alongside vitamin C.

The drinks are said by critics to contain high levels of the preservative benzoic acid and the colouring sunset yellow.

NBC is challenging the ruling...
Security guard John Uloko didn't see the reports about the soft drinks in the newspapers but heard about it via WhatsApp and hasn't drunk any since...

The ruling was the result of a nine-year-long court battle initiated by Nigerian businessman Fijabi Adebo.
A scientist based in Nigeria, who has dealings with Nafdac and asked to remain anonymous, says some human toxicity studies have shown that benzoic acid may react with ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in soft drinks, forming benzene... widely known to be toxic and linked to many forms of cancer.

Nigeria's health ministry published a statement in response to the public outcry, reassuring Nigerians that the drinks are safe for human consumption.
However, the ministry advises that medicines are taken with water to help "prevent unexpected drug-food interactions".

Although the government has not spoken of enforcement, it "encourages" all bottling companies to include advisory warnings on all relevant products...

The Nigerian Government, like other governments worldwide, has an obligation under international human rights law to ensure that citizens have access to the information they need to protect their own health and the health of others. This obligation was demonstrated in a white paper by HIFA and the New York Law School in 2012/13: http://www.hifa.org/about-hifa/hifa-universal-health-coverage-and-human-rights
The news item above suggests that the Nigerian Government could/should be doing more. It also raises questions about the safety of soft drinks in other LMICs.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-39340013

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