- The Federal Government has revealed that foodborne illnesses affect nearly 50 million people and lead to more than 53,000 deaths across Nigeria every year.
- Over 80 percent of the total disease burden falls on children under five, significantly damaging their long-term developmental and cognitive potential.
- Public health advocates and regulatory bodies are shifting focus beyond standard contamination to target diet-related non-communicable diseases by introducing strict sodium and trans-fat restrictions.
The Federal Government raised fresh concerns on Monday, June 8, 2026, regarding the high prevalence of foodborne diseases across Nigeria, revealing that contaminated and unsafe food leads to over 53,000 deaths and nearly 50 million illnesses annually.
Eko Hot Blog reports that the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, disclosed these figures during a ministerial press briefing in Abuja organized to mark the 2026 World Food Safety Day, under the theme “From Burden to Solutions – Safe Food Everywhere.”
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Salako explained that food safety is an essential component of national development and health security.
He warned that the true impact of this crisis is measured not only by immediate mortality statistics but by the massive loss of human capital, noting that Nigeria loses roughly 4.26 million years of healthy life annually to foodborne disabilities, chronic illness, and premature deaths.
A significant portion of this public health crisis impacts vulnerable demographics, with children under the age of five accounting for more than 80 percent of the country’s total foodborne disease burden.
The minister pointed out that the long-term consequences hinder the developmental, physical, and cognitive potential of Nigerian children.
This warning coincides with recent global estimates from the World Health Organisation showing that unsafe food causes 866 million illnesses and 1.5 million deaths globally each year, with African nations carrying the highest per-capita burden.
Salako identified diarrhoeal infections as the leading cause of these domestic illnesses, accounting for over 40 million cases linked directly to dangerous pathogens such as Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Campylobacter, Shigella, and rotavirus, which remain primary drivers of childhood malnutrition and hospitalization.
The minister also highlighted emerging public health threats from chemical contaminants, citing lead exposure in water sources, spices, and grains as a serious hazard.
Despite these persistent challenges, Salako noted that Nigeria has recorded measurable progress in its regulatory frameworks, outperforming the WHO target for low- and middle-income countries in its 2025 State Party Annual Report.
To address remaining gaps, he emphasized that authorities must tighten surveillance on informal traditional markets, expand testing for heavy metals, and improve basic sanitation infrastructure.
Additionally, the government is linking food safety directly to the control of non-communicable diseases like hypertension and diabetes.
Nigeria has introduced National Guidelines for Sodium Reduction, and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is finalizing draft rules to limit salt levels in processed foods alongside implementing industrial trans-fat elimination laws.
Reinforcing the government’s stance, NAFDAC Director-General Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, represented by Eva Edwards, the Director of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, stated that safe, wholesome food is a core prerequisite for boosting immunity and achieving national nutritional goals.
Adeyeye reaffirmed NAFDAC’s commitment to using science-based regulations and robust stakeholder collaboration to monitor all manufactured, imported, and distributed food products.
Concurrently, the advocacy group Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), led by Executive Director Akinbode Oluwafemi, urged the government to expand the definition of food safety to protect citizens from ultra-processed products high in sugar and unhealthy fats.
CAPPA welcomed the Senate’s recent passage of a bill strengthening the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax regime, calling for mandatory front-of-pack warning labels to protect consumers from preventable diet-related illnesses.
