LAGOS WARNS RESIDENTS OVER FAKE PALM OIL IN MARKETS

The Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency has warned residents about increasingly sophisticated adulteration of palm oil and urged consumers to be cautious when buying the product.

The agency said it was also intensifying market surveillance across the state to protect consumers from unsafe and substandard palm oil.

The warning followed a presentation at the Lagos State Food Safety Conference and Exhibition 2026 by a Senior Lecturer in Food Technology at Auchi Polytechnic, Dr Nurah Oseni.

Oseni said palm oil was vulnerable to adulteration because of its high trading volume, consumers’ association of deep-red colour with quality, price differences and informal market practices.

She identified the use of potentially carcinogenic Sudan and Azo dyes to change the colour of palm oil as one of the emerging risks.

The lecturer also raised concerns about the mixing of palm oil with recovered or recycled oils, including spent cooking oil, as well as multi-adulterant mixtures designed to evade basic quality checks.

She further warned about traceability fraud involving falsified product labels and batch records, stressing the need for stronger surveillance and improved testing methods.

Oseni advised consumers to carry out simple visual checks as an initial precaution, noting that palm oil may separate into layers, with the lower layer often appearing orange to red-yellowish rather than uniformly deep red.

She, however, cautioned that visual inspection alone could not confirm adulteration and recommended a tiered system involving risk-based screening, rapid tests and laboratory analysis.

The lecturer proposed a five-step surveillance framework for Lagos “Risk Map, Sample, Screen, Confirm and Act”  supported by an adulteration intelligence database and cooperation among regulators, traders, laboratories, researchers and consumers.

Meanwhile, the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of LASCOPA, Afolabi Solebo, urged residents to “shine their eyes” and report suspected adulterated palm oil and unscrupulous traders through the agency’s official channels.

Solebo also said the agency would intensify market surveillance across Lagos to protect consumers.