The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has disowned a viral list circulating on social media, which purportedly names products in the Nigerian market as fake, adulterated or substandard.
The agency described the list as unauthorised and urged members of the public to disregard it, warning that the circulation of unverified claims could cause unnecessary panic and inflict reputational and commercial damage on legitimate businesses.
In a statement signed by its Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, NAFDAC said the agency did not issue the list and that it should not be interpreted as an official regulatory alert, product recall or safety communication.
The agency said it does not declare products counterfeit, adulterated or unsafe without following established regulatory procedures, including investigation, sampling and, where necessary, scientific and laboratory analysis.
NAFDAC explained that its regulatory communications are based on specific and verifiable findings. Where a product or particular batch is established to be substandard, falsified, adulterated or otherwise unsafe, the agency said it provides relevant details and communicates the appropriate regulatory measures through its official channels.
The agency therefore urged consumers and other stakeholders to distinguish between allegations circulated on social media and formal regulatory findings.
“A product cannot responsibly be declared fake or unsafe merely because its name or photograph appears on a social-media list,” NAFDAC said.
The agency said it was concerned that accepting an unverified list as an official regulatory notice could have consequences beyond consumer anxiety, particularly for legitimate manufacturers, distributors and retailers.
According to NAFDAC, misinformation of this nature could distort consumer behaviour, disrupt legitimate commercial activities and undermine confidence in products that have undergone the appropriate regulatory processes.
The agency reaffirmed its mandate to protect public health by ensuring that regulated products meet established standards of safety, quality and efficacy.
It added that enforcement action would continue to be taken against products found, following investigation and scientific assessment, to require regulatory intervention.
NAFDAC also called on healthcare professionals, manufacturers, distributors and members of the public to rely on its official communication channels for information relating to product alerts, recalls, withdrawals, suspensions and other regulatory actions.
The agency encouraged Nigerians to continue reporting suspected counterfeit, adulterated or substandard products, noting that such reports remain an important source of regulatory intelligence.
It, however, stressed that allegations must be subjected to proper investigation and scientific verification before any product is formally declared unsafe or non-compliant.
“For the avoidance of doubt: the viral list did not emanate from NAFDAC,” the agency said, urging Nigerians to disregard it and refrain from circulating it as an official publication.
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