Consumer Programmes are those programmes that are organized for the interest and protection of the consumers. Such programmes ensure the safety of consumers and help them to obtain necessary goods and services at reasonable prices as well as when and where they so desire. The programmes can be provided by both the government and the community. There is always the need to protect the consumer from fraudulent businessmen and women and their selling practices. This protection is necessary because:
1) Advertisements may be misleading and this can cause consumers to make unsuitable purchases.
2) Often traders form associations of dealers of specific commodities merely to protect their own interests and maximize profits at the expense of unprotected consumers.
3) Increasing incomes of consumers are often matched by an increasing variety of goods available for them to buy. The confusing varieties of goods from which a consumer can choose easily lead to an unsuitable choice being made.
4) The varieties of commodities themselves are becoming more complicated. Only few consumers have much knowledge of all consumer goods. For instance, only very few may have knowledge about such electrical appliances as pressure cookers, mixers, yam pounders and even foodstuffs.
Government Agencies and Regulations: The regulation of food laws and formulation of food standards is done at international and national levels. At the international level, the regulation of food laws and standards is under the control of a body known as ‘Codex Alimentarius Commission’ (CAC). This commission is jointly sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Different countries are free to join this commission. The implication of being a member of this commission is that all the standards and regulations passed by this commission must be operated by any member country. Thus, in a way this commission assists in regulating international trade especially with regard to importation and exportation of foods.
At the national level, each country is expected to have a body, statutorily established to be in charge of the formulation of food standards and regulations and enforce its implementation. In Nigeria, a body formerly known as Nigerian Standard Organization (NSO) and currently known as Standard Organization of Nigeria was set in 1970 as a division of the Federal Ministry of Trade and Industries. This body is saddled with the responsibility of formulating standards for products produced within and imported into Nigeria. Realizing the sensitivity of food and noting the very wide scope the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) is expected to cover, a special regulatory body for foods and drugs was established by a decree in 1974. This body is known as the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) and it is under the umbrella of the Ministry of Health. It is this body that formulates a standard for foods and drugs in Nigeria. It also has as its function, the enforcement of the set standards and regulations.