The Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency, LASCOPA, issued the warning after a technical presentation at the Lagos State Food Safety Conference and Exhibition by Dr Nurah Oseni, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Food Technology at Auchi Polytechnic.
In her presentation titled “Palm oil adulteration: Emerging risks, detection strategies and regulatory control,” Oseni identified the use of potentially carcinogenic Sudan and Azo dyes to improve the colour of palm oil as one of the emerging adulteration risks.
She also raised concerns over the blending of palm oil with recovered or recycled oils, including spent cooking oil, as well as the use of multiple adulterants designed to evade basic quality checks.
According to Oseni, palm oil is particularly vulnerable to adulteration because of its high trading volume, price differences, informal market practices and consumers’ preference for deep-red colour as a sign of quality.
The General Manager of LASCOPA, Afolabi Solebo, urged Lagos residents to remain vigilant and report suspected adulterated palm oil and unscrupulous traders through the agency’s official channels.
Solebo said the agency had intensified surveillance in markets across the state, warning that anyone found engaging in the practice would be arrested and prosecuted under relevant laws.
Oseni advised consumers to use simple visual checks as an initial precaution, noting that authentic palm oil may separate into layers, with the lower layer appearing orange to red-yellowish rather than uniformly deep red.
She, however, cautioned that visual inspection alone cannot confirm whether palm oil has been adulterated.
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