The Director-General, Nigerian Institute of Science Laboratory Technology, Ibadan, Oyo State, Dr. Ighodalo Ijagbone, has said that there is need for agriculturists, industrialists and exporters of food products to embrace food certification if they want their products to be accepted internationally.

He said this while addressing journalists on the forthcoming 29th annual national conference of the institute holding at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State next week. The conference has ‘The Role of Science Laboratory Technology in Food Security: Adding Value to the Food Chains', as its theme.

  He said food certification was imperative because the international standard requires the manufacturer/producer to spell out the nutritive value and other contents of a product and this could be done in science laboratories.

He said,"The practice of science laboratory technology is versatile and cuts across many prime sectors such as education, agriculture industries, medicine and engineering. Given the theme of the conference, which has to do with food security, agriculture should occupy a prime place.

"Then there is the issue of food safety. Do we know the content of what we are eating, and from what nature of soil does it come from? So, food certification is very important so that one knows the content of what one is eating."

Ijagbone said the institute has a multipurpose science laboratory equipped with equipment for services such as taking routine analysis of samples from plants, food, feeds, soil water and drugs.

He added, "Our specific roles include laboratory investigations and analysis of soil fertility, quality of fertilisers, montoring growth of crops, nutritive values of various food products, effect of pesticides as food residues and food poisoning."

Ijagbone thus called on agriculturists, industrialists and exporters dealing with food products to make use of the institute's facilities.

While he said the institute's mandate encompass the training, registration and certification of laboratory scientists and technologists, regulating members' practices for effective and efficient management and administration of science laboratories in the country, Ijagbone stated that the institute has 12,592 members.