The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has vowed to clamp down on those involved in forced ripening of fruits, adulterated palm oil, and the sale of contaminated meat and grains across Nigeria.
The agency’s Executive Vice Chairman, Olatunji Bello, issued the warning during a sensitisation campaign on food quality, safety standards, and fair business practices held in Kano.
Represented by the Director of Quality Assurance and Development, Dr. Nkechi Mba, Bello said such practices “endanger the lives of millions of Nigerians and erode consumer trust.”
Bello listed some alarming trends, including the use of calcium carbide, which contains arsenic and phosphorus, in ripening fruits, and the adulteration of food with dangerous additives like bromate, Sudan red, sniper, and formalin.
He also cited unhygienic storage conditions and poor waste disposal as major threats to public health.
He said, “Unsafe food not only endangers lives, but undermines trust in markets, disrupts trade, and damages the reputations of businesses, both large and small.”
Joint Effort for Safer Food
Bello noted that the FCCPC collaborates with other key agencies such as NAFDAC, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to improve compliance with food safety laws.
He said the Commission has conducted market surveillance, shut down facilities, and prosecuted offenders in several cases involving hazardous food practices.
Calling for greater responsibility among farmers, food processors, and vendors, Bello urged them to observe hygiene protocols, label and package food properly, and stop using harmful substances.
“Every product you put on the shelves affects a family or community,” he said. “Any operator who places profit over public safety will face the full wrath of the law.”
How long will unsafe food continue to find its way into Nigerian markets? And will this renewed FCCPC campaign finally make vendors rethink their profit-first habits?
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