- Senate To Enact Stiffer Penalties For Artificial Fruit Ripening With Chemicals
- Lawmakers urge agencies to launch nationwide sensitisation on food safety.
- Committee links practice to rising health crises, including cancer and cholera.
The Nigerian Senate has resolved to amend existing laws to impose stiffer penalties on individuals and organisations involved in the artificial ripening of fruits using hazardous chemicals.
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EKO HOT BLOG reports that this decision followed the adoption of a report presented by the Joint Senate Committees on Health (Secondary and Tertiary) and Agricultural Services, Productive and Rural Development, chaired by Senator Ipalibo Banigo (PDP, Rivers West).
Lawmakers also directed the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), and the Nigerian Council of Food Science and Technology (NiCFOST) to intensify public awareness campaigns on the dangers associated with consuming chemically ripened fruits.
The Senate further ordered relevant regulatory agencies to strengthen enforcement of food safety standards using current legal and regulatory frameworks.
In its report, the Joint Committee raised alarm over the rising use of raw calcium carbide for artificial fruit ripening and other unsafe food handling practices across the country. It identified several harmful methods, including cooking meat with paracetamol, preserving grains with sniper (Dichlorvos), washing fruits and vegetables with detergents, soaking cassava in bleach, and adding banned Sudan IV dye to palm oil and pepper.
The committee also noted that Morpholine, a waxing agent used on fruits and vegetables, is banned in the European Union but is still used in some parts of Nigeria.
It warned that such practices are linked to life-threatening health conditions, including cancer, kidney and liver damage, and foodborne diseases such as cholera and Lassa fever.
“The artificial ripening of fruits using chemicals poses severe hazards to human health and has led to sicknesses and deaths. This is a public health crisis, not just a consumer rights issue,” the report stated. “The practice undermines food safety, threatens lives, and must be halted through legislation, public education, and strict regulatory enforcement.”
Citing recent data, the committee disclosed that Nigeria recorded over 14,000 cholera cases and about 378 related deaths in 2025, as well as 119 deaths from food-related Lassa fever infections. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Nigeria suffers over one million cases of foodborne illnesses annually, costing the economy more than $3.6 billion.
The Senate emphasised that despite the provisions of Sections 243–245 of the Criminal Code, which criminalise food and water adulteration, stronger legislative measures are needed to curb the growing public health threat.
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