The struggle by traders to boost sales is growing daily as customers grapple with low purchasing power. Faced with piling bills and dwindling patronage, many sellers now resort to tricks that make their wares appear more attractive—often at the expense of quality and consumer safety.
Staple food items such as fufu, yam flour, palm oil, melon, and blended pepper are among the most manipulated. The latest victim of this trend is shrimp—both fried and dried. Investigations by Economy & Lifestyle revealed that several sellers now use artificial colouring to give shrimps a bright orange glow. A simple rinse in water quickly exposes the fraud, as the colour washes out and leaves the shrimp pale.
For Mrs. Rashidat Lawani, a caterer, the discovery was infuriating. “I bought shrimp recently and while washing, the water turned red, leaving the shrimp dull. I had to return it. Later, I learned that many sellers add colouring to make it enticing,” she lamented. Similarly, Mr. Richard Momodu, a PoS agent, confirmed the development. “I stopped buying shrimp when I discovered this trick. It’s devastating that over half of what we eat is adulterated,” he said, adding that he also abandoned fufu after hearing some producers use detergent to speed up fermentation.
The practice is not limited to seafood. Another disturbing trend is the padding of moi moi leaves. Instead of delivering the expected number of leaves, some sellers bulk them up with pumpkin leaf stems to make the bundle look fuller. “I bought moi moi leaves and found less than 20 usable ones. The rest were just stems. It’s pure deception,” said Mrs. Tife Tajudeen, a caterer.
Experts warn that such adulterations—whether in food processing or packaging—pose serious health risks. Yet, in a market environment driven by survival and profit, many traders seem unwilling to abandon these shortcuts. For consumers, vigilance remains the only safeguard in navigating Nigeria’s food markets where “almost everything is now adulterated.”
