From fruit stalls to abattoirs, a deadly trend has invaded Nigerian kitchens. A Senate investigation has uncovered shocking food adulteration practices across the country — from fruits ripened with calcium carbide and meat softened with paracetamol to grains laced with Sniper insecticide and cassava soaked in bleach.
Declaring the situation a “public health emergency”, the Senate on Wednesday vowed to strengthen existing laws and impose tougher penalties on anyone using toxic chemicals in food production or processing.
The resolution followed the adoption of a damning report by the Joint Senate Committees on Health and Agriculture, which revealed widespread and dangerous chemical use in Nigeria’s food supply chain.
“What Nigerians are eating daily is slow poison,” one lawmaker warned. “This is no longer about consumer rights — it’s about survival.”
The Senate’s findings were chilling: fruit sellers use calcium carbide — an industrial welding chemical — to force ripening, releasing poisonous gases. Butchers boil beef with paracetamol to soften it. Grain traders preserve their stock with Sniper, while cassava processors bleach their tubers with detergent. Even palm oil and pepper are dyed with Sudan IV, a banned cancer-causing colouring agent.
At abattoirs, tyres are burnt to remove animal fur, coating meat with toxic residue. Some imported fruits are coated with Morpholine, a waxing chemical banned in the EU for its link to liver and kidney damage.
The report linked these practices to rising cases of cancer, kidney failure, and foodborne diseases such as cholera and Lassa fever. In 2025 alone, Nigeria recorded over 14,000 cholera cases and 119 food-related Lassa fever deaths. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that over one million Nigerians suffer foodborne illnesses annually, costing more than $3.6 billion in health and productivity losses.
“These are families — children and mothers — dying because we are eating poisoned food,” a senator lamented.
To combat the menace, the Senate resolved to amend Sections 243 to 245 of the Criminal Code to enforce stricter sanctions against offenders. It also directed the Ministries of Agriculture and Health, alongside agencies like NAQS, FCCPC, and NiCFOST, to begin nationwide enforcement and public sensitisation.
“This is a national health emergency,” the Senate declared. “We must protect what Nigerians eat — from farm to table.”
Lawmakers admitted that legislation alone won’t suffice. They called for continuous education in communities, schools, and marketplaces to curb the spread of toxic food practices.
As one senator grimly summed it up: “Food is life — but in Nigeria today, food has become death served fresh.”
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
