…Gives NBC 7 days ultimatum on full disclosure
The Consumer Protection Council has handed down a seven-day ultimatum to the Nigerian Bottling Company to furnish it with information on the composition of Fanta and Sprite in order to further determine the safety of consumers in Nigeria.
The ultimatum became necessary in view of a “broad and detailed investigation” being launched by the CPC into the safety of Fanta and Sprite, following the judgment of a Lagos State High Court that raised questions in respect of the products.
While saying that the “CPC is keenly interested and extremely concerned about the questions that have risen from the judgment,” the Director-General, CPC, Mrs Dupe Atoki, told newsmen, in Abuja, on Thursday, that key questions which CPC investigation would determine include whether or not Fanta and Sprite were potentially harmful when consumed with vitamin C.
She added that if the answer was in the affirmative, “NBC obligations should be determined as well as the extent of compliance, in the interest of consumers.”
“The judgment serves as a subject of bringing this information to CPC’S attention,” she said, stating that CPC would conduct its own independent investigation.
Atoki said, pursuant to the Act establishing the Consumer Protection Council, the Council was interested in discovering what steps NBC took, if any, after the testing and confiscation of Fanta and Sprite by the UK authorities.
The DG disclosed that the information being requested from the Nigerian Bottling Company also included “any and all quality assurance or laboratory tests conducted or commissioned by NBC, or that have come within the control of NBC with respect to Fanta and Sprite between 2008 and 2017,” adding that NBC had also been ordered to identify the custodian of composition of Fanta and Sprite in the UK.
According to her, the reason for CPC’s interest is not farfetched. “For years, Fanta, Sprite and Coca Cola have arguably and consistently been the most widely consumed beverages in Nigeria..the spectrum of consumption is perhaps the widest, with consumption starting from as early as age 4 and far into adult years.”
While saying that the Council expected maximum cooperation of the Nigerian Bottling Company in this regard, Atoki noted that Vitamin ‘C’ was one of the most consumed medications for both children and adults, both as a matter of prescription or dietary supplement.
She further explained that the concern was necessary as both NBC products and Vitamin ‘C’ were routinely consumed in Nigeria with absolutely no restrictions to access and availability.
In a letter to the bottling company made available to The POINT, the CPC mandated the company to furnish it with “any and all papers, processes, statements, affidavits, arguments, exhibits filed in the case that was subject of the judgment” as well as identify every witness that NBC intended to present at the trial, including all witnesses who testified, and others intended but who did not testify, among others.
