By Ikugbadi Oluwasegun
The Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency (LASCOPA) has raised alarm over increasingly sophisticated palm oil adulteration, urging consumers across the state to stay vigilant when buying the widely consumed product.
The warning followed a technical presentation at the Lagos State Food Safety Conference and Exhibition 2026, where Dr. Nurah Oseni, Senior Lecturer, Department of Food Technology, Auchi Polytechnic, presented a paper titled “Palm Oil Adulteration: Emerging Risks, Detection Strategies and Regulatory Control.”
According to Dr. Oseni, 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
She identified several emerging risks, including the use of potentially carcinogenic Sudan and Azo dyes to alter colour, blending with recovered or recycled oils, including spent cooking oil, as well as multi-adulterant mixtures designed to evade basic quality checks.
The scholar also raised concerns over digital and traceability fraud, including falsified product labels and batch records, stressing the need for stronger surveillance and improved detection mechanisms across the supply chain.
Furthermore, Dr. Oseni advised consumers to use simple visual checks as an initial precaution. She explained that palm oil may separate into layers, with the lower layer typically appearing orange to red-yellowish rather than uniformly deep red. She cautioned, however, that visual checks alone can not confirm adulteration.
She advocated a tiered detection system involving risk-based screening, rapid physicochemical and spectroscopic tests, and confirmatory laboratory analysis, supported by proper sampling and chain-of-custody procedures.
Dr. Oseni further proposed a five-step Lagos surveillance framework: Risk Map, Sample, Screen, Confirm and Act – supported by an adulteration intelligence database and coordinated responsibilities among processors, traders, laboratories, regulators, researchers and consumers.
The General Manager/CEO of LASCOPA, Afolabi Solebo, Esq., reaffirmed the Agency’s commitment to protecting consumers from unsafe and substandard products, urging Lagosians to “shine their eyes” and report suspected adulterated palm oil and unscrupulous traders through the Agency’s official channels as market surveillance is intensified across the state.
