Lagos govt warns residents as cancer-causing palm oil floods markets
The Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency (LASCOPA) has issued a red alert over what it described as the increasing circulation of sophisticated adulterated palm oil in markets across the state.
The warning followed a technical presentation at the Lagos State Food Safety Conference and Exhibition by Dr Nurah Oseni, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Food Technology, Auchi Polytechnic. (Vanguard News)
LASCOPA urged consumers to remain vigilant and report suspected cases of adulterated palm oil and unscrupulous traders through its official channels as the agency intensifies surveillance across markets in the state.
The General Manager of LASCOPA, Afolabi Solebo, reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to protecting consumers from unsafe and substandard products.
Solebo urged Lagos residents to “shine their eyes” when purchasing palm oil and report suspected adulteration and other suspicious activities to the agency.
He said surveillance had been intensified across markets in the state, warning that anyone found dealing in adulterated products would be arrested and prosecuted in accordance with relevant laws.
In her paper titled ‘Palm Oil Adulteration: Emerging Risks, Detection Strategies and Regulatory Control,’ Oseni explained that palm oil is particularly vulnerable to adulteration because of its high trading volume, consumers’ preference for deep-red colour as an indication of quality, price differences and informal market practices.
She identified the use of potentially carcinogenic Sudan and Azo dyes to enhance the colour of palm oil as one of the emerging risks.
According to her, other forms of adulteration include blending palm oil with recovered or recycled oils, including spent cooking oil, as well as the use of multiple adulterants designed to evade basic quality checks.
Oseni also raised concerns about digital and traceability fraud, including the falsification of labels and batch records, and called for stronger surveillance and improved detection mechanisms across the supply chain.
She advised consumers to adopt simple visual checks as an initial precaution, noting that authentic palm oil may separate into layers, with the lower layer appearing orange to red-yellowish rather than uniformly deep red.
However, she cautioned that visual inspection alone could not conclusively establish whether palm oil had been adulterated.
The expert recommended a tiered detection system involving risk-based screening, rapid physicochemical and spectroscopic tests, as well as confirmatory laboratory analysis based on proper sampling and chain-of-custody procedures.
Oseni also proposed a five-step surveillance framework for Lagos — “Risk Map, Sample, Screen, Confirm and Act” — supported by an adulteration intelligence database and coordinated efforts involving processors, traders, laboratories, regulators, researchers and consumers.
Reacting, Solebo said LASCOPA would continue to intensify market surveillance and enforcement to protect residents from unsafe food products.
He urged consumers to remain vigilant and promptly report suspected cases of adulterated palm oil and other unsafe products to the agency through its official channels.