By Nkechi Eze
The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Dr Kingsley Udeh, SAN, has called on federal, state and local governments to deploy qualified food science and technology professionals in markets, food-processing centres and other points along the food value chain to tackle unsafe food practices and protect public health.
Udeh made the call during a press briefing organised by the Nigerian Council for Food Science and Technology (NiCFoST) to commemorate the 2026 World Science Day for Peace and Development in Abuja.
He stressed that the effective deployment of trained professionals was critical to detecting food adulteration, monitoring processing practices, strengthening quality assurance and ensuring that food products met acceptable safety standards.
The Minister disclosed that Nigeria had approximately 3,000 food science and technology professionals trained across about 70 tertiary institutions but lamented that their expertise was not being adequately utilised, particularly in the public service.
He said the Ministry was facilitating engagements towards establishing a professional career structure for food science and technology practitioners in the public service to ensure that their skills were effectively deployed in safeguarding the nation’s food supply.
Udeh urged food regulatory institutions and businesses to engage qualified and licensed professionals in food production management, quality assurance and control, production supervision, raw material management and finished-product storage.
He expressed concern over the prevalence of unsafe food practices, including artificial ripening of fruits with calcium carbide, treating beans and grains with prohibited chemicals, using paracetamol to soften meat, applying detergents during cassava processing and adulterating palm oil with prohibited colourants such as Sudan dyes.
“These practices certainly endanger lives, undermine consumer confidence and compromise food security. Food must sustain life, not endanger it,” he said.
Citing figures attributed to the World Health Organisation, the Minister said approximately 866 million people worldwide were affected by foodborne illnesses, resulting in an estimated 1.552 million deaths, including 143,000 children under five.
He called on state and local governments to strengthen food inspection and enforcement in markets, restaurants, abattoirs and other food outlets, while adopting NiCFoST’s food safety operational manual for market and street food vendors.
On the promotion of indigenous technologies, Udeh said the Ministry was encouraging the adoption of locally developed solutions for food processing, preservation, storage and packaging, including improved fish-smoking kilns, solar dryers, grain storage systems, cassava-processing equipment and palm fruit-grinding machines.
He explained that the Ministry was also promoting shared community processing facilities to enable small-scale operators to access appropriate equipment without bearing the full cost individually.
The Minister further disclosed plans to convene a high-level national roundtable involving relevant government institutions and stakeholders across the food value chain to strengthen coordination and drive effective implementation of food safety policies.
He clarified that while NiCFoST was responsible for regulating the professional practice of food science and technology, the investigation and prosecution of offenders remained within the statutory responsibilities of relevant law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies.
Udeh urged Nigerians to report suspected cases of food adulteration and unsafe food handling, stressing that food safety enforcement required collective responsibility.
“If you see something, you say something. The eyes of the government are the eyes of everyone. If we see and do not report, how would people know?” he said.
Earlier, the Director-General of NiCFoST, Veronica Ezeh, identified the inadequate deployment of food science and technology professionals at the grassroots as a major gap in Nigeria’s food safety system.
Ezeh said qualified professionals were needed in markets and food-processing centres to conduct scientific inspections, screen food products, identify adulteration and monitor compliance with food safety standards.
Demonstrating how some traders adulterate palm oil with prohibited Sudan dyes to enhance its colour and appearance, she warned that such practices exposed unsuspecting consumers to potentially harmful substances.
She also raised concerns over the unhygienic display of garri in open containers, warning that exposure to dust, insects, rodents and other contaminants could facilitate the transmission of dangerous diseases, including Lassa fever and cholera.
The NiCFoST Director-General advocated simple and affordable hygienic packaging methods to protect food products from contamination, noting that traders could adopt basic packaging solutions rather than continue displaying food in open containers.
She further stressed that food safety inspections must extend beyond finished products to the sources of raw materials and ingredients used by processors, warning that businesses could unknowingly package and distribute adulterated products when they obtained supplies from unreliable sources.
According to her, deploying trained professionals across the three tiers of government would strengthen food surveillance, discourage unsafe practices and enable consumers to purchase food products with greater confidence.
