Palm oil producers say they are educating members and small farmers about fake palm oil, but they cannot fight market adulteration alone and want the Ministry of Health and consumer agencies to join the effort.
Alphonsus Inyang, president of the National Palm Produce Association of Nigeria, said the group has told members and millers to reject middlemen who buy good oil then adulterate it in secret.
“We have been enlightening our members and the smallholder palm oil farmers and millers to watch out … these people are criminals,” he said.
Inyang also warned it is hard for shoppers to tell real from fake oil because adulterators are “very skilful” and use paints and other harmful substances.
For that reason, he said, public education must be led by better-funded agencies such as the Consumer Council and the Ministry of Health.
“This is a national problem. It concerns everybody,” Inyang said, calling the danger both a health crisis and an economic threat that could damage Nigeria’s palm-oil reputation overseas.
The association says it can support awareness campaigns but lacks the money to run nationwide programmes on its own.
