The Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency (LASCOPA) has raised concerns over increasingly sophisticated palm oil adulteration and urged consumers across the state to be vigilant when purchasing the widely consumed product.
The warning followed a technical presentation at the Lagos State Food Safety Conference and Exhibition 2026, where a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Food Technology at Auchi Polytechnic, Dr Nurah Oseni, highlighted emerging risks in the palm oil supply chain.
Oseni said palm oil is particularly vulnerable to adulteration because of its high trading volume, consumers’ perception that deep-red colour indicates quality, price differences and informal market practices. She identified the use of potentially harmful Sudan and Azo dyes, recovered or recycled oils, including spent cooking oil, and mixtures of multiple adulterants designed to evade basic checks as emerging concerns.
She also raised concerns about traceability fraud, including falsified product labels and batch records, and called for stronger surveillance and improved detection methods across the supply chain.
Oseni advised consumers to use visual checks as an initial precaution, noting that palm oil may separate into layers and that the lower layer may appear orange to red-yellowish rather than uniformly deep red. She, however, stressed that visual inspection alone cannot confirm adulteration.
She recommended 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.
Meanwhile, the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of LASCOPA, Afolabi Solebo, reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to protecting consumers from unsafe and substandard products.
Solebo urged Lagos residents to report suspected adulterated palm oil and unscrupulous traders through LASCOPA’s official channels as the agency intensifies market surveillance across the state.