Consumers Lament Proliferation Of Toxic Edible Oil

Consumers and safety advocates have stressed the need to save Nigerian consumers from unhygienic and potentially toxic vegetable oil arising from the use of the same tankers meant for petroleum products to convey edible oil.

In a chat with LEADERSHIP, Disu Abdullahi, owner of a popular fast food joint in Ikeja area of Lagos, complained of a nasty odour that comes from groundnut, vegetable oil he bought to prepare dishes for his customers.

“I have been worried recently about the odour coming out from the groundnut oil I buy to prepare food for my customers. A situation where vegetable oil starts smelling like kerosene, gas and petrol. Sometimes you perceive these unexplainable but strange mixtures inside groundnut oil. Very recently I felt uncomfortable after eating the plate of the indomie I prepared for myself,” he said.

A consumer and seller of edible oil in Lagos State, Mrs Tayo Akindele, said, “I hope producers will not give us poisonous oil, especially now that many manufacturers are cutting corners without care for consumers. Before now, the major problem was adulteration of oil. But it has gone beyond that.

‘’Last week we heard of how some wicked people have been mixing red oil with some chemicals. But I have been noticing strange odour as I pour the oil from 25Kg into smaller containers for my customers even while cooking with it at home, I used to perceive strange odour until I heard through the radio that NAFDAC has arrested some tankers for using same tankers meant for petroleum products for groundnut oil.

“We have to be very careful of what we take into our stomachs as some merchants of death in the name of making money, more profits are toying with the health of consumers, you can see the alarming rate of cancer in the country.”

On her part, a housewife, Alhaja Mulaika Bola complained of always experiencing tasteless oil and strange odour whenever she opened the bottled oil.

A medical expert, Dr. Ben Amuze who decried the practice of lifting edible oil with fuel tankers warned that prolonged consumption of adulterated and contaminated oil may result in liver and kidney damage, gastrointestinal disorders, reproductive complications and an increased risk of certain cancers.

The consumer safety advocate added that it has increasingly become difficult for many buyers to distinguish between genuine oil be it palm or vegetable from adulterated products, particularly in open markets where the commodity is commonly sold in bulk without standard packaging.

The consumers in separate interviews said, NAFDAC should take drastic steps against NUPENG and its PTD to prevent them from future use of petroleum tankers for oil that is meant for consumption.

“We are still concerned with the number of people that died recently due to locally made medicines. These people should not be allowed to keep endangering people’s lives”, they said.

It would be recalled that the Edible Oil, Marketers and Sellers Association on Saturday, 19 September during a press conference, organised by them, called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to use his good offices to stop NUPENG/PTD from the ongoing confrontation between the two unions over transportation of edible oil in the country.