The Director General of the Nigerian Institute of Leather Science & Technology (NILEST), Zaria, Dr Isuwa Adamu, has said that consumption of animal hides and skin, popularly known as Ponmo is dangerous to human health. Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, today in Abuja, Adamu said scientific research has shown that ponmo doesn't have any nutritional value to human health and that some of the animals where ponmo is gotten from are usually sick & harbor dangerous chemicals.
"In fact, it is not advisable for you to consume ponmo in the sense that some of the animals killed and used for ponmo actually have skin diseases. Some of these skin diseases are such that boiling them ordinarily, may not kill the bacteria. Some of the animals because of the ailments that they have gone through, are sometimes treated by way of injection with chemicals.
People don’t allow these chemicals to complete its cycle and be removed from the body; they sometimes go ahead to kill these animals. So, if you consume the ponmo, the tendency is that you are consuming the chemicals directly because the skin part of the animal retains most of the harmful substances. Remember your skin is the major protective organ of your body and your skin harbours so many of the harmful things that are supposed to penetrate into your body,” he explained.
He advised the Federal government to put in place policies that would reduce the consumption of Ponmo in Nigeria.
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