 With non-communicable diseases accounting for 74% of all deaths worldwide, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAVDAC, has scaled up efforts towards the elimination of trans-fatty acid TFA's from food supplies in Nigeria. NAVDAC Director-General Prof. Mojisola Adeye lamented that more than 36 million people could die annually from NCDs adding that cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of death accounting for 17.5 million deaths annually. The report There have been several campaigns with the use of unhealthy oil due to its harmful effect on people. Most of these products are reported containing high level of cholesterol which increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases leading to many deaths. To this end, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAVDAC, has expressed optimism that Nigerians will enjoy better food quality and health following the recent gazette of the reviewed fat oil and food containing fat and oil regulation 2022 and the prepackaged food labelling regulation 2022. NAVDAC Director-General Prof. Mojisola Adeye disclosed this at a press briefing jointly organized by the agency and the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, KAPA. Prof. Adeye noted that deaths attributable to trans-fatty acid in Nigerian foods leading to heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and chronic lung disease among others will now reduce drastically. We have reviewed the fat and oil regulation and we have a newly gazetted regulation known as fat, oil and food containing fat and oil regulation 2022. This regulation has addressed the second pathway for the elimination of industrially made trans-fatty acids with the limit of not more than 2% in all foods. In addition, the prepackaged food labelling regulation 2005 has also been reviewed to take place of the labelling requirements for trans-fat acids as we now have a reviewed and gazetted prepackaged food labelling regulation. She also revealed that NAVDAC is already working with the industry and partners to find alternative source to the existing partially hydrogenated oils that are the source of industrially produced trans-fatty acids. In a speech, Akibode Uluwafemi, executive director of Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa said the media must continue to play a key role in educating the public on the content. It's going from not mandatory little information to more information. You can now see what is the content of saturated fats, what is the content of non-saturated fats because of what? Because the food we eat can kill us. The food we eat can kill us. If you eat too much saturated fats, it can start blocking the lining of blood vessels and once that lining starts decreasing, getting narrowed, the space rather, start getting narrowed, then blood pressure and with that sometimes with diabetes and so on cardiovascular diseases we start showing up. And so what NAVDAC is doing is making sure we are safeguarding the health of the nation by now having a labeling that an informed consumer can really understand and check and see. From the part of the ministry, there may be an overarching policy that is following that will come up with it. We are also reviewing the national safety, food safety and quality policy which have incorporated this regulation to be part of it and it will soon be launched as well so that the health of Nigerians will be perfectly taken into consideration. These are shown us that civil society can strongly partner with government to achieve a lot in this country. And when I mean a lot, I also speak to what concerns your ministry which is the areas of food policy. You mentioned sugar, you mentioned salt and every other things that we consume that we are ready as an organization to continue to partner with KAPA on all these areas and ensure that necessary policies and emergency regulations that will save Nigerians, I mean save Nigerians public health are all in place. I think these regulations are well implemented and we stop having the wrong oils for the populace to use. The populace will be protected without them even knowing that they are even changing their lifestyles. So that's a wonderful thing that has happened with the coming to place of this regulation. The fats, oil and food containing fats and oil regulation 2022 includes provisions on the scope of application, source of edible fats and oils, vitamin A fortification, additives and impurities. It also covers labeling of fats and oils products, labeling limits and claims for trans fats and cholesterol and penalties among others.