The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), in partnership with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), has revealed that a recent survey of vegetable oil and salt samples collected from Nigerian markets found widespread inadequate fortification, prompting the Commission to issue a directive compelling defaulting producers to comply.
The study, conducted over a two-month period across random markets and households in the northern and southern regions of the country, utilized a Household Food Fortification Survey complemented by the Digital Fortification Quality Traceability Plus (DFQT+) platform.
Large-Scale Food Fortification (LSFF) is the industrial practice of deliberately adding essential vitamins and minerals such as iron, folic acid, vitamin A, zinc, and iodine to widely consumed staple foods to combat micronutrient deficiencies and hidden hunger, a public health issue affecting pre-school children and women of reproductive age globally, while national food policy legally mandates manufacturers to fortify their products.
An analysis of 200 samples comprising 100 each of vegetable oil and salt showed that 12 percent of the oil and 2 percent of the salt were inadequately fortified at the household level.
The 100 vegetable oil samples included 49 unbranded options alongside 51 branded products such as Devon Kings, Power Oil, Activa, Golden Penny, Laziz Oil, Mamador, Lasor Oil, Golden Terra, Canola, Primo Vegetable Oil, Zimzitana Oil, Ayarah Oil, Sim, Tadenkey, and Okli, while the salt samples comprised 19 unbranded packs and 81 branded items including Mr. Chef and Dangote.
Beyond micronutrient deficiencies, the survey exposed critical gaps in supply chain transparency, marked by limited onboarding on the DFQT+ platform developed by GAIN to improve tracking from production to consumption.
Enhanced product traceability benefits both consumers and businesses by easing quality concern identification and improving transparency, yet only six vegetable oil producers had registered on the platform, with merely eight results belonging to three of those companies successfully uploaded among the analyzed samples.
Responding to these findings, the Commission has directed defaulting producers to comply and is actively encouraging manufacturers, particularly micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), to embrace product registration and digital traceability alongside consumer awareness initiatives.
The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the FCCPC, Mr. Tunji Bello emphasized that consumer protection extends beyond resolving complaints to ensuring buyers are not denied the health value and benefits expected from marketplace products, adding that businesses bear a core responsibility to maintain appropriate quality standards.
The Commission also revealed that it has escalated the matter to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for further action in accordance with their existing Memorandum of Understanding.
