The Federal Government has announced plans to jail individuals and owners of businesses involved in unsafe food practices and the production and sale of adulterated food products.
It added that the jail terms would range from six months to two years for individuals convicted of the offence.
The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Dr Kingsley Udeh, who disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja, said the move was part of efforts to protect public health and strengthen food safety enforcement in the country.
According to him, the proposed measures were aimed at deterring individuals, food manufacturers, processors and traders from engaging in practices that could expose consumers to harmful substances and increase the risk of foodborne illnesses.
In June 2026, the FG disclosed that unsafe food causes nearly 50 million illnesses and more than 53,000 deaths annually in Nigeria.
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, said the country also loses an estimated 4.26 million years of healthy life annually to foodborne diseases through illness, disability and premature death.
Globally, the World Health Organisation estimates that about 600 million people fall ill after consuming contaminated food each year, while 420,000 die. Unsafe food can cause more than 200 diseases, ranging from diarrhoeal illnesses to cancers.
But speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, according to a statement made available to PUNCH Healthwise, Udeh said moves had begun to jail offenders for six months to two years.
“The minister warned that his Ministry will collaborate with the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney General to prosecute contaminated and adulterated food offenders, and appropriate penalties ranging from 6 months to 2 years’ jail term will be imposed on convicts,” the statement read in part.
The minister said tougher regulatory action had become imperative after Nigeria recently witnessed the death of five family members in Kogi State in August 2026 after consuming fufu processed from Cassava flour and 49 fatalities in Ondo State in September as a result of methanol contamination of locally prepared alcoholic and herbal drinks.
He noted that the plan was to tackle the worrisome public health challenge of unsafe food practices and ensure that offenders are held accountable for endangering consumers.
The minister, however, commended the Registrar of the Nigerian Council of Food Science and Technology, Mrs Veronica Ezeh, for her concerted efforts to rid the country of unwholesome and adulterated foods.
Also speaking, Ezeh highlighted several cases of contaminated food and harmful practices such as artificial ripening of fruits with calcium carbide, and application of dichlorvos (snipers) on beans and grains
Others, he said, include the use of paracetamol to cook meat as a tenderizer, use of detergents and bleaching agents on cassava, and adulteration of palm oil with prohibited colourants like Sudan 4 dye.
According to the NiCFoST registrar, these harmful practices have contributed largely to the rising cases of liver cirrhosis, kidney diseases, cancer and damage to other vital organs of the body.
Ezeh listed some of the multi-pronged action plans rolled out by the FG to tackle food contamination and food fraud, including strict enforcement of Sections 243-245 of the Criminal Code Act Cap C38 Laws of the Federation 2004, and proposed creation of Food Science and Technology Professional Cadre in the Public Service at Federal, State and Local Government levels.
Others, she said, are promoting the use of new technologies in food safety, introduction of sealing and packaging of food products, organising stakeholders’ conference, mobilising other regulatory agencies towards enforcing food safety regulations, and adoption of the NiCFoST Food Safety Procedure Manual which was launched last year.
Ezeh reiterated the determination of NiCFoST to ensure that the over 3,000 food science and technology graduates produced annually in the country are engaged by governments at all levels to take charge of food safety issues nationwide.
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