The Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency has warned residents about the growing sophistication of palm oil adulteration, urging consumers to exercise caution when buying the product.
The agency also announced plans to step up market surveillance across Lagos as part of efforts to prevent the circulation of unsafe and substandard palm oil.
The warning followed a technical presentation at the Lagos State Food Safety Conference and Exhibition 2026 by a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Food Technology, Auchi Polytechnic, Dr Nurah Oseni.
Presenting a paper titled, “Palm Oil Adulteration: Emerging Risks, Detection Strategies and Regulatory Control,” Oseni explained that the high volume of palm oil traded, consumers’ perception that deep-red colour indicates good quality, price disparities and informal trading practices had made the product susceptible to adulteration.
She said, “Palm oil is particularly vulnerable to adulteration because of its high trading volume, consumers’ association of deep-red colour with quality, price differences, informal market practices, and challenges in detecting sophisticated adulterants.”
Oseni identified the use of potentially carcinogenic Sudan and Azo dyes to intensify the colour of palm oil as one of the emerging threats.
She also pointed to the mixing of palm oil with recovered or recycled oils, including spent cooking oil, as another concern. According to her, some adulterants are combined in ways that can make them difficult to detect through basic quality checks.
The lecturer further highlighted digital and traceability fraud, including the falsification of product labels and batch records.
She called for stronger monitoring throughout the supply chain, alongside improved methods for detecting adulterated products.
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As an initial precaution, Oseni advised consumers to conduct simple visual checks when purchasing palm oil. She noted that the oil could separate into layers, with the lower portion generally appearing orange to red-yellowish instead of having a uniform deep-red colour.
She, however, stressed that visual inspection alone was insufficient to establish whether palm oil had been adulterated.
Oseni recommended a tiered approach to detection, beginning with risk-based screening, followed by rapid physicochemical and spectroscopic tests and, where necessary, confirmatory laboratory analysis. She said effective sampling and chain-of-custody procedures should form part of the process.
She also proposed a five-stage surveillance framework for Lagos — “Risk Map, Sample, Screen, Confirm and Act” — backed by an adulteration intelligence database.
According to her, effective implementation would require coordinated efforts involving processors, traders, laboratories, regulators, researchers and consumers.
Meanwhile, the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of LASCOPA, Afolabi Solebo, reiterated the agency’s commitment to safeguarding Lagos residents against unsafe and substandard products.
Solebo urged consumers to remain alert and report suspected adulterated palm oil as well as unscrupulous traders through the agency’s official channels.
He said, “We urge Lagosians to shine their eyes and report suspected adulterated palm oil and unscrupulous traders through the Agency’s official channels.”
He added that LASCOPA would intensify market surveillance across the state.