The Federal Government has raised concerns over the growing 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 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, food fraud and adulteration as serious national concerns, noting that consumers were increasingly exposed to harmful chemicals, unhygienic processing and improper food preservation methods.
The minister warned that such practices endangered lives, weakened consumer confidence and threatened food security, stressing that food should promote health rather than expose people to danger.
Citing figures attributed to the World Health Organisation, Udeh said approximately 866 million people globally suffered foodborne illnesses annually, resulting in about 1.52 million deaths, including 143,000 children under five.
He put the global economic burden of foodborne diseases at 310 billion dollars annually, adding that contaminated food could cause more than 200 diseases.
The minister also cited estimates by Nigerian health authorities indicating that the country records approximately 50 million foodborne illnesses and more than 53,000 related deaths every year.
He said the figures highlighted the urgent need to strengthen food inspection, professional supervision and regulatory enforcement across the country.
To address the challenge, 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 that trained experts were involved in food inspection, processing and quality control.
Udeh expressed concern that although Nigeria produces approximately 3,000 food science and technology graduates annually from about 70 tertiary institutions, their expertise was not being adequately utilised.
He attributed the situation partly to the absence of an established professional cadre within the public service, which he said had limited the deployment of qualified personnel to food safety responsibilities.
The minister pledged to initiate the necessary engagements towards establishing the cadre, noting that the process would involve personnel audits and skills-gap assessments.
He urged food businesses and regulatory institutions to employ qualified and licensed professionals in production management, quality assurance, supervision, raw materials handling and finished-product storage.
He also called on regulatory inspectors to verify the professional registration and valid annual practice licences of practitioners working in the food industry.
Udeh 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 and practice of food science and technology.
He commended the council for developing a food safety operational manual for food business operators, market traders and street-food vendors, urging local governments to adopt the document to improve monitoring at the grassroots.
The minister further called for stronger food inspection and enforcement in markets, restaurants, abattoirs and other food outlets across the country.
On the role of indigenous technology, Udeh said his ministry was promoting locally developed equipment to improve food processing, preservation, storage and packaging.
He listed improved fish-smoking kilns, solar dryers, grain storage systems, cassava-processing equipment and food-grade grinding machines among the technologies being promoted.
He identified the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi, as one of the institutions involved in developing and fabricating food-processing equipment locally.
Udeh also disclosed that the ministry was encouraging the establishment of shared community processing facilities to enable small-scale food operators who could not afford individual equipment to access affordable or free services.
He specifically identified garri packaging as an area requiring urgent attention, noting that the product was frequently displayed in open containers, exposing it to dust, insects and other forms of contamination.
He said appropriate packaging technologies would help preserve food quality and reduce contamination without imposing excessive costs on small-scale traders.
The minister further announced plans to convene a high-level national food systems stakeholders’ meeting within the next one to two months to improve coordination among government institutions and stakeholders across the food value chain.
Also speaking, the Registrar of the Nigerian Council of Food Science and Technology, Veronica Ezeh, supported the call for stronger grassroots regulation, saying the absence of designated food safety professionals had contributed to inadequate monitoring in local markets.
Ezeh explained that some food science and technology professionals employed by local governments were not assigned food safety responsibilities because the relevant professional cadre and scheme of service had not been fully established.
She maintained that deploying trained professionals would help identify unsafe food practices before contaminated products reached consumers.
Responding to concerns about whether packaging alone could guarantee the safety of garri and other food products, particularly where contamination might only be discovered after purchase, Ezeh said packaging must be supported by proper inspection and professional supervision.
She stressed that qualified food science officers should examine products and establish safety standards to restore public confidence in food sold in Nigerian markets.
Ezeh added that effective regulation at the grassroots would help rebuild consumer confidence, particularly among Nigerians who had become increasingly cautious about purchasing certain food products because of fears of contamination and adulteration.
