FG Raises Alarm Over Carbide-Ripened Fruits, Paracetamol-Treated Meat in Markets

The Federal Government has raised an alarm over the use of harmful chemicals like calcium carbide to ripen fruits and paracetamol to soften meat in markets across the country, warning that the practices pose severe health risks to consumers.

The warning comes after years of repeated warnings from the Senate, NAFDAC, and public health advocates, and raises the question of why the dangerous practices have persisted despite previous findings, ValidViewNetwork reports.

THE CHEMICALS

Calcium carbide, an industrial chemical used in welding, is being used by unscrupulous traders to force-ripen fruits like bananas, plantains, and mangoes.

When carbide comes into contact with moisture, it produces acetylene gas, which contains traces of arsenic and phosphorous. Consuming fruits ripened this way can cause cancer, heart, kidney, and liver failure .

Paracetamol, a common painkiller, is being added to meat and poultry to tenderise it. When paracetamol breaks down in cooked food, it becomes toxic and can damage internal organs, sometimes fatally .

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Other practices identified in previous investigations include washing fruits and vegetables with detergent to make them look fresher, preserving grains with sniper (dichlorvos), and using banned Sudan IV dyes to enhance the colour of palm oil and red pepper.

THE HISTORY OF WARNINGS

This is not the first time the government has raised the alarm.

In 2025, the Senate Joint Committees on Health and Agricultural Services conducted an investigative hearing on the chemical ripening of fruits. The committee found that fruit vendors were using raw calcium carbide, meat sellers were using paracetamol, and grains were being preserved with sniper.

The Senate described the situation as “a public health emergency rather than a consumer rights issue,” citing data showing that Nigeria recorded over 14,000 cases of cholera in 2025, resulting in 378 deaths, while 119 people died from food-related Lassa fever infections.

The World Health Organisation estimated that Nigeria suffers more than one million cases of foodborne illnesses annually, leading to economic losses of over $3.6 billion.

The Senate resolved to amend existing laws to prescribe stiffer punishments and directed regulatory agencies to begin enforcement of food safety standards .

In 2020, The Nation newspaper published an analysis of “soft deaths” in Nigeria, noting that food vendors were poisoning their customers with carbide-ripened fruits and paracetamol-treated meat, often out of ignorance but always in a bid to maximise profit .

In August 2026, Vanguard published an editorial on “Tackling informal sector food adulteration,” noting that the practices were “a direct assault on public health” and that the informal food sector remained outside effective regulatory oversight .

THE ANALYTICAL LENS

The government’s alarm is not new. It is a repetition of warnings that have been made for years.

The question is not whether the government knows about the problem. The question is why it has not been fixed.

The Senate held an investigative hearing in 2025. It found the culprits. It recommended stiffer penalties. It directed agencies to enforce food safety standards.

And yet, in November 2026, the Federal Government is raising the same alarm about the same practices.

The problem is not a lack of knowledge. It is a lack of enforcement.

NAFDAC and other regulatory agencies have been praised for intensifying surveillance, but raids and prosecutions alone cannot eliminate a problem rooted in a weak food safety culture, poor regulation, and the desperation of traders trying to survive in a harsh economy .

The consumers are also at risk.

Many Nigerians buy from open markets and roadside vendors because they cannot afford the prices at supermarkets. They have no way of knowing whether the fruit they are buying has been ripened with carbide or the meat they are cooking has been tenderised with paracetamol.

They are, in a sense, captive to a system that prioritises profit over health. The government’s alarm is a necessary first step. But it is not enough.

What is needed is a sustained, coordinated effort involving NAFDAC, state governments, market associations, and consumers to root out these practices and hold those responsible accountable.

The alarm has been raised. The question is whether anyone will act before the next victim is poisoned. ValidViewNetwork reports.