A viral video showing someone mixing dye with palm oil has sparked anger across Nigeria, with health experts and citizens calling for urgent action by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control.
The video, which first appeared online in late November, shows a man mixing concentrated dye into palm oil to make it look more red.
Medical professionals and concerned consumers are warning that this practice, which is meant to make the oil look like high-quality palm oil, poses serious health risks including cancer.
Popular health influencer and medical doctor Chinonso Egemba, known online as Aproko Doctor, addressed the video on Monday, calling the act “wickedness” and linking it to Nigeria’s low life expectancy rates.
“This is wickedness. What do you mean you’re putting dye inside palm oil just so that it will look red? And then you’re selling it to people, knowing that what people are actually drinking or putting in their food is not actual palm oil but something mixed with dye,” he said.
“There are certain dyes that are actually carcinogenic, which can actually lead to cancer in some people. So, when you hear things like our life expectancy in Nigeria is 50-something years old, these are part of the reasons,” Aproko Doctor stated.
He criticized the lack of regulation in the informal market, saying enforcement agencies are often underfunded and cannot effectively track down unregistered vendors.
“This particular person is probably not registered. There’s no way you’re probably going to find this person. Yet, their products are entering the market in a way that is unregulated. People are suffering from the effects of this because the local officers who are supposed to be hunting down this type of person are probably underfunded. They don’t have any funds to do what they’re doing. So, most times, they’ve gone to find another work rather than actually ensuring our health as Nigerians,” he explained.
Another medical doctor, Dr Yonni Johnson, who uses the name CoddasO on social media, also condemned the practice.
“Adding dye to palm oil is not ‘business,’ it is slow murder. Many of these dyes are carcinogenic, damaging the liver, kidneys, blood and increasing long-term cancer risk,” Dr Johnson said.
He stressed that genuine palm oil should be naturally red from carotenoids, not artificial chemicals.
Aproko Doctor suggested a home test where consumers can mix palm oil with water to check if it is pure. He demonstrated that pure oil will separate cleanly, while dye-adulterated oil will likely release colour into the water.
“We should not be doing mathematics to cook food,” he said.
However, some users noted that even this test might not always work.
A social media user with the handle jiboladev noted: “The kind of dyes used are usually the lipophilic azo dyes (lipophilic meaning they dissolve well in oil, but not in water). I think this DIY test could be used, but should not be seen as conclusive for the absence of dyes in the oil.”
Some Nigerians responding to the video pointed out that consumer demand for very red oil often drives vendors to adulterate it.
“Most Nigerians caused this,” wrote Queen Glad on Facebook. “When they get to the market, they’ll be looking for oil that is pepper red. If the red is not ‘redding’, they’ll say it’s not original oil, thereby making some of these vendors manipulate the oil so that they can sell.”
MandelaBTC wrote on social media platform X: “We blame the government every day, yet forget that the people in government were once ordinary Nigerians like us. Real change begins when we stop seeing cheating others as ‘smart’ and start recognising it for what it truly is, cruelty.”
Many citizens are asking NAFDAC to immediately investigate and find the person featured in the video.
“This is what the government is supposed to be doing: conducting inspections and using mystery shoppers to track down people like him. As a citizen, you can’t be too careful. Once it enters the market, how do you vet to know if what you’re buying is good or not?” leofreddie07 wrote on X.
Kingsley Bassey, using the handle Vin_Rouge_King, added: “NAFDAC Agency, please help investigate and bring to book this evil act. Nigerian lives are shortchanged for quick money.”
On Facebook, Nnenna Nnabuife echoed: “National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control. Please regulate the informal food market.”
Some people also called for broader action, including investigating the processing of other food items like tomato paste, vegetable oil, and stockfish, which consumers say might also be adulterated.
“That same chemical is also allegedly used to make tomato paste. Please let them tell us the ingredients in that tomato paste that gives it that reddish colour,” Hycenth Ifeanyi Udodili said on Facebook.
“We have to seriously start a lot of enforcement in Nigeria. The government can create more jobs through enforcement. The other time I saw a video where someone was sprinkling insecticide on stock fish,” Olowe Bowale wrote on X.
“Even groundnut oil also. I bought oil in the market and wanted to fry plantains. Immediately I poured on my fry pan, as I added my plantain, the foam of the oil covered everywhere,” AUNTYMUSE_ added on X.
The PUNCH reported in December 2024 that growing demand for palm oil with an attractive orange-red color has driven some dishonest traders to adulterate their products with Sudan IV, a synthetic dye typically used in industrial applications such as coloring waxes, plastics, and oils.
These dyes are banned for use in food products because of their harmful health effects. Despite the ban, Sudan IV has found its way into food processing because it can enhance the color of palm oil, making it look attractive to consumers.
