The Senate joint committees on health and on agricultural production services and rural development have submitted their report on a motion seeking to end the chemical ripening of fruits and other unsafe food handling practices in the country.
The report was presented on Wednesday by Ipalibo Banigo, chair of the Senate committee on health. The motion was originally sponsored on May 28 by Anthony Ani, the senator representing Ebonyi South.
Banigo told lawmakers that the committees held an investigative hearing on July 17 to receive input from regulators, industry stakeholders and the public. She said memoranda were reviewed and legal drafting experts engaged as part of the process.
According to her, the investigation uncovered a growing pattern of forced fruit ripening using raw calcium carbide, a practice the committee described as both fraudulent and hazardous.
She added that several other harmful practices were identified, including cooking meat with paracetamol, preserving grains with the pesticide sniper (dichlorvos), washing fruits and vegetables with detergents, soaking cassava in detergent solutions, and using banned Sudan IV dye in palm oil and red pepper. The burning of tyres to remove animal hides for consumption was also noted.
Banigo said the use of morpholine—a waxing agent prohibited in the European Union—was found in the treatment of some fruits and vegetables. The report linked these practices to cancer, kidney and liver damage, as well as foodborne illnesses such as cholera and Lassa fever.
The committees recommended that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), and the Nigerian Council of Food Science and Technology intensify public awareness campaigns on the dangers of chemical ripening.
They also urged amendments to existing laws to introduce tougher penalties for the use of harmful chemicals on food products and called for stricter enforcement of food safety standards by relevant agencies.
During deliberations, Babangida Hussaini, representing Jigawa North-West, proposed including the commodities and produce inspectorate department of the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment in the list of enforcement bodies, saying it already plays a role in monitoring hygiene in agricultural produce.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio commended the committees for their work and directed the Senate’s legislative compliance committee to monitor implementation of the recommendations.
