Lagos Govt warns residents against adulterated palm oil
Lagos State Agency Raises Alarm Over Adulterated Palm Oil
Lagos, Nigeria – The Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency (LASCOPA) has issued a warning regarding the increasing availability of sophisticated adulterated palm oil in markets across the state.
The alert follows a technical presentation delivered by Dr. Nurah Oseni, a senior lecturer in the Department of Food Technology at Auchi Polytechnic, during the Lagos State Food Safety Conference and Exhibition.
In response to the growing concern, LASCOPA has urged consumers to remain vigilant and report any suspected instances of adulteration through its official communication channels. The agency is enhancing surveillance operations in markets throughout the state.
Afolabi Solebo, the General Manager of LASCOPA, emphasized the agency’s commitment to safeguarding consumers against unsafe and substandard products. He called on residents to be vigilant and report any suspected cases of adulterated palm oil as well as unethical traders.
“Our market surveillance efforts have been intensified,” Solebo said, warning that individuals found selling adulterated palm oil would face arrest and prosecution under relevant laws.
In her presentation titled, “Palm Oil Adulteration: Emerging Risks, Detection Strategies and Regulatory Control,” Dr. Oseni highlighted several factors contributing to the adulteration of palm oil. These include the high volume of trade, consumer preference for deep-red palm oil as a quality indicator, pricing discrepancies, informal market practices, and the challenges associated with detecting sophisticated adulterants.
Dr. Oseni pointed to the use of potentially carcinogenic Sudan and Azo dyes to enhance the color of palm oil as an emerging risk. She also raised concerns about the blending of palm oil with recovered or recycled oils, such as spent cooking oil.
Furthermore, she warned of multi-adulterant mixtures designed to evade basic quality-control checks, which complicate the identification of adulterated products through conventional methods.
To mitigate risks, Dr. Oseni advised consumers to perform simple visual checks when purchasing palm oil. She explained that genuine palm oil can naturally separate into layers, with the lower portion exhibiting an orange to red-yellowish hue, rather than displaying a uniformly deep-red color. However, she cautioned that visual inspections alone cannot conclusively determine whether palm oil has been adulterated.
