FG Raises Alarm Over Use Of Chemicals To Ripen Fruits, Soften Meat

The federal government has raised concerns over the use of harmful chemicals in food processing and preservation in Nigeria, warning against practices such as using calcium carbide to ripen fruits, paracetamol to soften meat and detergents in cassava processing.

The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Dr Kingsley Udeh, also identified the treatment of beans and grains with unauthorised chemicals and the adulteration of palm oil with prohibited colourants such as Sudan IV as dangerous practices threatening public health.

Udeh spoke on Tuesday in Abuja at an event marking the 2026 World Science Day for Peace and Development, themed “Common Ground Through Science Diplomacy.”

He described unsafe food handling, fraud and adulteration as serious national concerns, saying they exposed consumers to harmful substances and unhygienic processing methods.

He said, “Indeed, unsafe food handling, food fraud, and adulteration have become serious national concerns, exposing consumers to harmful chemicals or unhygienic processing and improper preservation practices.”

Listing some of the dangerous practices, the minister said, “Other reported unsafe practices, which include ripening fruit with calcium carbide, treating beans and grains with [unauthorised chemicals], using paracetamol to soften meat, applying detergents or bleaching agents during cassava processing, and adulterating palm oil with prohibited colourants such as Sudan IV, have become widespread practices with eating health consequences.”

He warned that such practices threatened lives, weakened consumer confidence and compromised food security.

“These practices certainly endanger lives, undermine consumer confidence, and compromise food security. Food must sustain life, not endanger it,” he said.

Citing figures attributed to the World Health Organisation, Udeh said about 866 million people globally suffered foodborne illnesses annually, resulting in approximately 1.52 million deaths, including 143,000 children under five.

He added that foodborne illnesses cost the global economy an estimated $310bn annually, while unsafe food could cause more than 200 diseases.

In Nigeria, he said, health authorities estimated that about 50 million foodborne illnesses and more than 53,000 related deaths were recorded annually.

To address the problem, Udeh announced plans to strengthen food safety monitoring through the deployment of qualified food science and technology professionals, particularly at the local government level.

He said the federal government would facilitate the establishment of a professional cadre for food science and technology practitioners in the public service to ensure trained experts were involved in food inspection, processing and quality control.

The minister lamented that Nigeria was not adequately utilising its available expertise despite producing about 3,000 food science and technology professionals annually from approximately 70 tertiary institutions.

He said, “With all of these trained hands and professionals, we still are not where we should be in terms of food safety and food handling practices because we’re not yet effectively utilising these hands, particularly in the public service, because it’s been constrained by an absence of an established professional cadre.”

He pledged to facilitate engagements towards establishing the cadre, adding that the process would involve personnel audits and skills-gap analysis.

Udeh urged food businesses and regulatory institutions to engage qualified professionals in food production, quality assurance, processing and storage. He also called on inspectors to verify practitioners’ professional registration and valid annual practice licences.

He said the Nigerian Council of Food Science and Technology, established by an Act of the National Assembly in 2019, was responsible for regulating the profession.

The minister also urged local governments to adopt the council’s food safety operational manual, developed for food business operators, market traders and street-food vendors, to improve monitoring in markets, restaurants, abattoirs and other food outlets.

On indigenous technology, Udeh said the ministry was promoting locally developed equipment for safer food processing, preservation, storage and packaging. These include improved fish-smoking kilns, solar dryers, grain storage systems, cassava-processing equipment and food-grade grinding machines.

He identified the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi, as one of the agencies fabricating such equipment, adding that the ministry was also promoting shared community processing facilities to support small-scale operators.

The minister specifically identified garri packaging as an area requiring attention, noting that the product was often displayed in open containers and exposed to dust, insects and unhygienic handling.

He said appropriate packaging technologies would help reduce contamination and preserve food quality without imposing excessive costs on small-scale traders.

Udeh further disclosed plans to convene a national food systems stakeholders’ meeting within the next one to two months to strengthen coordination among government institutions and players across the food value chain.