The Senate has announced plans to amend existing laws to introduce tougher punishments for individuals found guilty of artificially ripening fruits with harmful chemicals instead of allowing natural ripening.

The decision followed the adoption of a report by the Joint Senate Committees on Health (Secondary and Tertiary) and Agricultural Services, Productive and Rural Development, chaired by Senator Ipalibo Banigo (PDP, Rivers West).

The Senate also mandated the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), and the Nigerian Council of Food Science and Technology (NiCFOST) to intensify nationwide sensitisation campaigns on the dangers posed by chemically ripened fruits.

Lawmakers further directed regulatory agencies responsible for food safety to strengthen enforcement using existing legal and regulatory provisions.

In its report, the Joint Committee cited an alarming rise in the use of raw calcium carbide to forcefully ripen fruits, alongside other hazardous food-handling practices. These include:

Cooking meat with paracetamol

Preserving grains with sniper (Dichlorvos)

Washing fruits and vegetables with detergents

Soaking cassava in detergent or bleach

Adding banned Sudan IV dye to palm oil and pepper

Burning tyres to remove animal skins

It noted that Morpholine, a chemical used as a waxing agent for fruits and vegetables, is banned in the European Union.

The committee warned that these practices are linked to serious public health risks, including cancer, kidney and liver damage, and foodborne diseases such as cholera and Lassa fever.

?The artificial ripening of fruits using chemicals poses severe hazards to human health and has led to sicknesses and deaths. This is a public health crisis, not just a consumer rights issue,? the committee stated. ?The practice undermines food safety, threatens lives, and must be halted through legislation, public education, and strict regulatory enforcement.?

Citing recent data, the committee noted that Nigeria recorded over 14,000 cases of cholera in 2025, resulting in about 378 deaths, along with 119 deaths from food-related Lassa fever infections. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that Nigeria suffers over one million cases of foodborne illnesses annually, costing the economy more than $3.6 billion.

The Senate stressed that despite existing laws?such as Sections 243?245 of the Criminal Code, which criminalise food, meat and water adulteration?more robust measures are required to address the growing menace. (Vanguard)

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