Lagos Raises Alarm Over Fake Palm Oil in Markets

(Palm Oil. Photo by Vanguard News)

Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency has issued a red alert over adulterated palm oil appearing in markets across the state.

The warning came after a technical presentation at the Lagos State Food Safety Conference.

A lecturer from Auchi Polytechnic, Dr Nurah Oseni, explained how palm oil is being faked.

LASCOPA's general manager Afolabi Solebo urged Lagosians to be careful and report suspected adulterated palm oil to the agency.

He said market surveillance has been stepped up and anyone caught selling fake oil will be arrested and prosecuted.

Dr Oseni said palm oil is easy to adulterate because it's widely traded, people look for deep red colour as a sign of quality, and there's a price difference between real and fake.

Modern adulterants are hard to detect.

The fake oils use potentially cancer-causing Sudan and Azo dyes to make them look red.

Some are blended with recycled oils, including old cooking oil.

Traders mix multiple adulterants together to slip past basic quality checks.

Consumers can do simple visual checks.

Real palm oil may separate into layers with the lower part orange to red-yellowish, not uniformly deep red.

But looking at it isn't enough to confirm if it's fake.

Consumers should report suspected cases to LASCOPA.