Food adulteration has become one of the gravest threats confronting Nigeria’s informal food sector. It is steadily eroding public confidence in the nation’s food supply, exposing millions of consumers to avoidable health hazards and undermining efforts to build a safe, secure and sustainable food system. Food nourishes and sustains life. When it instead becomes a vehicle for disease and death, reportedly contributing to about 200,000 foodborne illness-related deaths annually, it demands decisive action. Driven largely by the pursuit of quick profits, some traders, processors and food vendors deliberately compromise food quality through adulteration and unsafe processing methods.
Palm oil is enhanced with industrial dyes to deepen its colour. Bananas, mangoes and plantains are artificially ripened with calcium carbide, a hazardous industrial chemical. Grains are preserved with toxic pesticides and chemicals unfit for human consumption. Honey is diluted with sugar syrup, expired food products are repackaged and resold, while reports persist of paracetamol being used to soften meat and industrial detergents employed in cassava fermentation. Such practices amount to a direct assault on public health. The consequences are severe. Regular consumption of adulterated food has been associated with kidney and liver damage, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, neurological disorders and other chronic illnesses. Beyond the tragic human toll, food adulteration weakens confidence in Nigeria’s food system, increases healthcare costs, reduces productivity and discourages investment in the nation’s agricultural and food processing industries.
