A Lagos High Court, Igbosere, Lagos State, has ordered NAFDAC to forthwith mandate Nigeria Bottling Company (NBC) PLC, manufacturers of Fanta and Sprite soft drinks, to include a written warning that the content of the bottles cannot be taken with Vitamin C.
In a judgment delivered by Justice Adedayo Oyebanji, the court warned that taking Fanta and Sprite with Vitamin C is poisonous.The court also declared that NAFDAC has failed the citizens of Nigeria by its certification as satisfactory for human consumption, products which, in the U.K, failed sample test for human consumption and which became poisonous in the presence of Vitamin C, which can be freely taken by unsuspecting members of the public with Fanta and Sprite.
The court also awarded a cost of N2m against NAFDAC. The judgment of the court was sequel to a suit filed by a Lagos businessman, Dr Emmanuel Fijabi Adebo, against NBC Plc and NAFDAC.
The plaintiffs urged the court to declare that the Nigeria Bottling Company was negligent and breached the duty of care owed to their valued customers and consumers in the production of contaminated Fanta and Sprite Soft Drinks with excessive “benzoic acid and sunset” addictive which can cause cancer to the consumer.
Fijabi Adebo had purchased large quantities of Coca-Cola, Fanta Orange, Sprite, Fanta Lemon, Fanta Pineapple and Soda Water, from NBC, for export to the U.k.
When the consignment of the Soft Drinks arrived in U.k, they were certified unsuitable for consumption and were seized and destroyed by the U.K health authorities.
The claimants alleged further that NAFDAC failed to carry out necessary tests to determine if the soft drinks were safe for human consumption.
