Lagos residents have been warned to “shine their eyes” when buying palm oil as authorities raise the alarm over increasingly sophisticated ways of adulterating the popular cooking oil.
The Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency (LASCOPA) said it was stepping up surveillance of markets across the state following concerns over unsafe and substandard palm oil products.
The warning came at the Lagos State Food Safety Conference and Exhibition 2026, where a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Food Technology, Auchi Polytechnic, Dr Nurah Oseni, raised concerns about emerging methods being used to manipulate palm oil.
Speaking on “Palm Oil Adulteration: Emerging Risks, Detection Strategies and Regulatory Control,” Oseni said the product was particularly vulnerable because of its huge demand, price differences and consumers’ tendency to associate a deep-red colour with good quality.
But the lecturer warned that the familiar deep-red appearance could be deceptive.
She identified the use of Sudan and Azo dyes, some of which have potentially carcinogenic properties, as one of the emerging threats in the palm oil market.
She also raised concerns over the mixing of palm oil with recovered or recycled oils, including spent cooking oil, as well as the use of mixtures containing several adulterants designed to escape basic quality checks.
The problem, she noted, could extend beyond the physical product, with fraudsters also allegedly falsifying labels and batch records to make adulterated products appear legitimate.
Oseni advised consumers to carry out simple visual checks before buying palm oil, noting that genuine palm oil may separate into layers, with the lower portion tending towards an orange to red-yellowish appearance rather than an entirely uniform deep red.
She, however, stressed that visual inspection alone cannot prove whether palm oil has been adulterated.
According to her, proper detection requires a multi-level system involving risk-based screening, rapid physicochemical and spectroscopic tests and, where necessary, confirmatory laboratory analysis.
She proposed a five-stage surveillance strategy for Lagos — “Risk Map, Sample, Screen, Confirm and Act” — backed by an intelligence database on adulteration.
The system, she said, should involve processors, traders, laboratories, regulators, researchers and consumers working together to detect and stop adulterated products.
The warning comes months after LASCOPA reported the discovery of contaminated and artificially enhanced palm oil in Lagos markets and sealed a shop on Lagos Island over the sale of adulterated palm oil.
The agency had also warned that such products could contain substances including candle wax, chemicals, dyes and other impurities.
Meanwhile, LASCOPA General Manager, Afolabi Solebo, urged Lagosians to be extra careful when purchasing palm oil and to report suspicious traders and products to the agency.
“We urge Lagosians to shine their eyes and report suspected adulterated palm oil and unscrupulous traders through the Agency’s official channels,” Solebo said.
He added that the agency would intensify market surveillance across Lagos to protect consumers from unsafe and substandard products.
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