Angela Onwuzoo
Health experts have raised the alarm over the widespread reuse of cooking oil by food vendors and households across Nigeria, warning that the practice is fuelling a dangerous rise in hypertension, heart attack, stroke, and other life-threatening cardiovascular diseases.
As economic hardship forces households and roadside vendors to cut costs, many now overuse cooking oil multiple times, a trend experts say is worsening the country’s already troubling burden of non-communicable diseases.
Experts say non-communicable diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, and cancers, are some manifestations of public health challenges and one of the greatest threats to the health and future of our country.
The Executive Director, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, Akinbode Oluwafemi, says noncommunicable diseases currently account for about 30 per cent of all deaths in Nigeria each year.
Nutritionists and cardiologists who spoke with PUNCH Healthwise described repeatedly heated oil as a “silent killer”, stressing that it is laden with trans fats — the most harmful type of fat linked to heart attacks, hardened arteries, and sudden death.
A Professor of Public Health Nutrition and former Vice-Chancellor of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, Ignatius Onimawo, warned that using vegetable oil more than twice exposes consumers to severe cardiovascular risks.
“Overheating oil converts it to trans fat,” he said. “These trans fatty acids harden the arteries, making blood vessels non-flexible. When vessels can’t expand to accommodate pressure, blood pressure rises — and that’s often the beginning of hypertension.”
Onimawo added that the continuous build-up of fat around the blood vessels eventually triggers conditions such as stroke and heart failure. He urged Nigerians to avoid repeatedly heated oil and prioritise fruits and vegetables, especially during the economic downturn.
Calling for government intervention, he advised that environmental and health inspectors intensify monitoring of food vendors to ensure that fried foods sold to the public are safe for consumption.
A Consultant Cardiologist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Dr. Ramon Moronkola, said the surge in cardiovascular diseases is directly linked to unhealthy eating habits and lifestyles adopted by many Nigerians under financial strain.
“Hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and high cholesterol are rising partly because of the unhealthy way food is prepared and consumed,” he noted. “The long-term effect on the heart is devastating.”
Global health authorities share similar concerns. The World Health Organisation warns that heating and frying oil at high temperatures significantly increases trans fat levels, raising the risk of heart disease and death by up to 28 per cent.
According to the WHO, an estimated 540,000 deaths yearly are linked to the consumption of industrially produced trans fats, which raise “bad” cholesterol while lowering “good” cholesterol.
Beyond heart disease, researchers also highlight cancer risks. A 2019 review published in PubMed Central found that repeatedly heated oil generates harmful compounds — including carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons — that can cause genetic damage, mutations, and cancer.
The researchers cautioned that both consumption of reused oil and inhalation of fumes from overheated oil pose serious long-term health hazards.
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