Breadmakers set to revisit cassava bread programme

The Premium Breadmakers Association of Nigeria (PBAN) said it would revisit the cassava bread initiative championed by the former administration.

The group is concerned about finding out why the initiative did not work and it was abandoned.

President of PBAN, Tosan Jemide in a chat with newsmen in Lagos said, “We intend to work with the relevant authorities and stakeholders in the cassava flour project, which seems to have lost some steam”.

He explained that the cassava bread initiative had worked in other parts of the world, stressing that it was a good initiative that would benefit the government and Nigerians if well implemented.

He said, “The PBAN will pay particular attention to the quality of the bread her members produce for public consumption by working with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control and other regulatory bodies to ascertain the quality of what we churn out into the market.”

Deputy President, PBAN, Bose Ladi-Ofolu, said the government which introduced the initiative as a way of curtailing the importation of wheat, a major ingredient in bread making, needed to guide operators on the quantity of cassava that should be introduced into the bread.

She said, “Wheat is used in making bread and if cassava is to be introduced into bread, it cannot be up to 40 per cent because that would be too much and it will no longer be bread.”