According to Oseni, some emerging adulteration methods involve the use of potentially carcinogenic Sudan and Azo dyes to deepen the colour of palm oil.
The Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency (LASCOPA) has warned residents against buying suspected adulterated palm oil as the agency intensifies surveillance of markets across the state.
The warning followed a technical presentation at the Lagos State Food Safety Conference and Exhibition, where a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Food Technology, Auchi Polytechnic, Dr Nurah Oseni, raised concerns about emerging methods used to adulterate palm oil.
Oseni, in her paper titled, “Palm Oil Adulteration: Emerging Risks, Detection Strategies and Regulatory Control,” said palm oil is highly vulnerable to adulteration because of its high trading volume, consumers’ preference for deep-red colour and price differences.
She also identified informal market practices and the difficulty of detecting modern adulterants as factors contributing to the problem, Vanguard reports.
According to Oseni, some emerging adulteration methods involve the use of potentially carcinogenic Sudan and Azo dyes to deepen the colour of palm oil.
She also raised concerns about the mixing of palm oil with recovered or recycled oils, including spent cooking oil, as well as mixtures containing multiple adulterants designed to escape basic quality checks.
The expert advised consumers to carry out simple visual checks as an initial precaution when buying palm oil.
She noted that genuine palm oil may separate into layers, with the lower layer appearing orange to red-yellowish rather than uniformly deep red.
However, Oseni cautioned that visual inspection alone cannot establish whether palm oil has been adulterated.
The General Manager of LASCOPA, Afolabi Solebo, urged Lagos residents to remain vigilant and report suspected adulterated palm oil and traders involved in selling unsafe products through the agency’s official channels.
Solebo reaffirmed LASCOPA’s commitment to protecting consumers from unsafe and substandard products and said market surveillance had been intensified across the state.
He further warned that suspects found selling adulterated palm oil would be arrested and prosecuted under relevant laws.
The warning comes amid concerns over food safety and the circulation of unsafe products in Nigerian markets.
LASCOPA said consumers should report suspected cases to enable authorities to investigate and take appropriate action.
