The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says frozen poultry products and other food items are being preserved by businesspersons using a poisonous chemical called formalin.

A spokesperson for the agency, Abubakar Jimoh, said “unscrupulous business people” had been using formalin to preserve poultry products, chicken and turkey, in particular.

Formalin is a poisonous chemical popularly used to preserve corpses in mortuaries and is capable of preserving poultry products for weeks before they get to consumers.

Speaking on Monday, Mr Jimoh said, “There are enough poultry products in the country than to resort to frozen chicken smuggled in, despite the government’s ban.”

He also warned consumers about the economic import of patronising those business people who smuggle poultry products into the country.

He warned that indigenous poultry farmers and marketers were not progressing since money spent on smuggled products only went to originators of the imported products.

According to him, the patronage of imported or smuggled products would also continue to affect Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserve.