By Joseph Erunke, Abuja

Fresh concerns have emerged over the safety of food consumed across Nigeria as the Network for Health Equity and Development (NHED) warns that weak regulatory oversight and the rising consumption of highly processed foods are putting millions of Nigerians at serious health risk.

The group said gaps in food regulation, coupled with excessive intake of salt, sugar and unhealthy fats, are fuelling a surge in preventable diseases across the country.

Speaking during a media parley in Abuja on Thursday, NHED Technical Lead, Dr. Jerome Mafeni, expressed concern about the capacity of regulatory agencies to effectively monitor the country’s expanding food market.

According to him, many Nigerians assume that packaged foods, bottled water and other processed products on store shelves are automatically safe for consumption.

“Our regulator has such a huge portfolio of things to oversee. The question is: how much resources and capacity do they actually have to regulate all food products effectively? It is a serious challenge,” Mafeni said.

He noted that limited resources can make enforcement difficult and may allow some operators within the food sector to bypass established safety standards.

“In situations where regulatory agencies are not adequately resourced, compliance becomes harder to enforce. When regulatory gaps exist, some individuals may attempt to take advantage of them,” he said.

Mafeni added that concerns about food safety extend beyond packaged products, noting that some commonly consumed items may not always meet expected standards if regulations are not properly enforced.

“Even the bottled water people drink requires consistent monitoring to ensure it meets safety standards,” he said.

The NHED official also pointed to practices within parts of the food supply chain that may compromise quality, including the use of artificial ripening methods for fruits and repeated reuse of cooking oils by some food vendors.

According to him, such practices can erode consumer confidence in food safety.

“We have reached a stage where many people are unsure about what they are eating. Fruits may be artificially ripened, and some vendors repeatedly reuse cooking oil. These practices raise concerns about food quality and safety,” Mafeni said.

He warned that unhealthy diets are increasingly linked to the rising burden of non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, heart disease and diabetes in Nigeria.

Excessive consumption of salt, sugar, saturated fats and trans-fatty acids, he noted, remains a major public health concern.

To address the problem, NHED is advocating the introduction of simplified warning labels on food packaging, known as Front-of-Pack Labelling (FOPL), which would clearly indicate when products contain high levels of unhealthy ingredients.

Mafeni explained that such labels would enable consumers to make healthier choices without requiring specialised nutritional knowledge.

“If a product clearly indicates that it contains high salt or high sugar, the consumer immediately understands the potential health risk. That simple warning can help people decide whether to limit their consumption or avoid the product,” he said.

He also urged the media to intensify public awareness campaigns on healthy eating habits and the health risks associated with poor diets.

“You shape public opinion. Many Nigerians still lack access to this information, so the media has an important responsibility to help people understand what they eat and how it affects their health,” he added.

Mafeni further revealed that the proposed labelling policy would be supported by the development of a national nutrient profile model being designed in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

The model, he explained, would establish Nigeria-specific nutritional benchmarks to determine levels of sugar, salt and saturated fats that would require warning labels.

“To determine what constitutes very high sugar, very high salt or very high saturated fat, Nigeria must establish its own nutritional benchmarks based on the foods we consume and our cultural context,” he said.

He disclosed that a technical working group comprising researchers, government agencies and civil society organisations has already begun collecting data from supermarkets and markets across the country to support the initiative.

While acknowledging progress by major food manufacturers in reducing trans-fat content in packaged products, Mafeni said smaller producers still lag behind.

“Most large manufacturers have reduced trans-fatty acids in their products. If you check many labels today, you will see zero or less than two per cent, which is Nigeria’s benchmark.

“However, many small and medium-scale producers have yet to reach that level, and a significant portion of what Nigerians consume comes from these producers,” he noted.

NHED warned that unless Nigeria strengthens its food regulatory system and empowers consumers with clearer nutritional information, the country may face increasing public health challenges linked to unhealthy diets.