SoTLAN urges consumers to start asking questions about consumables

The President, Society of Testing Laboratory Analysts of Nigeria (SoTLAN), Dr Femi Oyediran, on Monday advised consumers to start asking questions about the products they were consuming.

Oyediran, who gave this advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos said that when consumers become inquisitive about the quality of what they were consuming, manufacturers and regulatory bodies will be up and doing.

“Consumers need to rise up and start asking questions about the quality of goods and products they buy in the market. There is need to continually test the quality of bottled and pure water sachets, soft drinks and juice, beverages, among others in the market.

“’Consumers should be asking questions either as individuals or groups on these products they buy and consume.

“Consumers can take these products for analyses and if the result shows the product is below quality, they can collectively take the manufacturers or importers to court for damages,” he said.

Oyediran said that consumers needed to be their own watchdogs as they spend money treating illnesses that good manufacturing practices could have prevented.

He said that in some economies, government do testing of the various products from simple bottled water to the complicated ones and make the results available to the public.

Oyediran said it was unfortunate that Nigerians were not getting value for anything, including the tax they pay regularly to the government.

The SoTLAN president said that people had to do the test to ensure that what they bought with their money was healthy for consumption.

He said that there were over 35 independent testing laboratories-owned by its members and 50 Environmental Laboratories in the country to do product testing among others.

Oyediran said that the laboratories were ISO Certified and that their analyses compared favorably with what obtained globally.

-NAN