Lagos Adulterated Palm Oil Warning Raises Concern As South-East Palm Oil Prices Vary

The Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency, LASCOPA, has raised the alarm over the growing circulation of sophisticated adulterated palm oil in markets across the state, warning consumers to be vigilant over potentially harmful products.

The warning came as palm oil prices in parts of the South-East continue to show significant variations, with traders and consumers in some markets paying substantially different prices for the commodity.

At the Abakaliki International Market, Ebonyi State, palm oil was reportedly selling at about ₦65,000 for 25 litres as of September 18, 2026, while the corresponding price in Enugu was about ₦50,000 for 25 litres.

However, the Enugu figure represented a 9.1 per cent decline from the previous observation, indicating that the local market had experienced some softening rather than a general price increase.

A September 21 national market estimate put palm oil prices at approximately ₦1,400 to ₦2,600 per litre, although the available data had limited coverage of South-East markets and should therefore be regarded as indicative rather than a comprehensive regional price benchmark.

The price variations come against the backdrop of concerns over the quality and safety of palm oil being sold to consumers.

Speaking at the Lagos State Food Safety Conference and Exhibition, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Food Technology, Auchi Polytechnic, Dr. Nurah Oseni, warned that palm oil had become increasingly vulnerable to sophisticated forms of adulteration.

In her paper, titled “Palm Oil Adulteration: Emerging Risks, Detection Strategies and Regulatory Control,” Oseni attributed the vulnerability to the high volume of palm oil traded, consumers' preference for deep-red colour as an indication of quality, price differences, informal market practices and the increasing difficulty of detecting modern adulterants.

She identified the use of potentially carcinogenic Sudan and Azo dyes to intensify the colour of palm oil as one of the emerging risks.

Other risks, she said, included the blending of palm oil with recovered or recycled oils, including spent cooking oil, as well as the use of multi-adulterant mixtures specifically designed to evade basic quality-control checks.

Oseni advised consumers to undertake simple visual checks as an initial precaution, noting that genuine palm oil could separate into layers, with the lower layer appearing orange to red-yellowish rather than uniformly deep red.

She, however, cautioned that visual inspection alone could not conclusively establish whether palm oil had been adulterated.

Following the presentation, LASCOPA issued what it described as a red alert over the presence of sophisticated adulterated palm oil in Lagos markets and urged residents to report suspected cases to the agency.

The agency's General Manager, Afolabi Solebo, urged residents to “shine their eyes” when purchasing palm oil and report suspected adulteration and unscrupulous traders through LASCOPA's official channels.

Solebo said market surveillance had been intensified across the state, adding that suspects found violating relevant consumer-protection and food-safety laws would be arrested and prosecuted.

Meanwhile, there are indications of potential additional supply of locally produced palm oil in Enugu State, following the commencement of commercial production by Enugu United Palm Products Ltd.

The company reportedly began commercial palm-oil production this month after reviving plantations in Ezeagu, Uzo-Uwani and Oji River, a development that could contribute to local supply as production expands.

The development is coming at a time when consumers across the South-East are closely watching palm-oil prices, while food-safety concerns are also drawing attention to the quality of the commodity reaching markets.

For consumers, the combination of price differences and the emergence of sophisticated adulteration techniques underscores the need to purchase palm oil from trusted sources and report suspicious products to relevant regulatory authorities.