A Professor of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Olaposi Omotuyi, has raised concerns over the growing health implications of food adulteration, unsafe agricultural practices and the misuse of chemicals in food preservation and processing in Nigeria.

He warned that exposure to such substances could contribute to kidney, liver, lung and cardiovascular diseases, as well as cancer.

Omotuyi gave the warning while delivering the second edition of the Prof. Olaposi Idowu Omotuyi Annual Lecture, titled, “Exploring Food Adulteration, Agricultural and Food Preservation Practices in Modern Pathologies.”

He explained that harmful substances introduced into the food chain through farming, processing, preservation and storage could expose consumers to chemicals and pollutants capable of damaging vital organs over time.

Addressing physical and virtual audiences across the globe, the academic expressed concern that some people were developing serious health conditions despite having no known family history of such illnesses or engaging in lifestyle practices commonly associated with them.

Citing the prevalence of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) among non-smokers in sub-Saharan Africa, he noted that about half of COPD cases in the region occurred among people who had never smoked, with an estimated 107,000 deaths annually.

The founder of Mols and Sims Laboratory challenged researchers and health professionals to look beyond conventional risk factors and examine environmental and food-related exposures that could be contributing to the situation.

“If half of our COPD patients never smoked, what are they breathing? If young and middle-aged adults are developing kidney disease, what are their kidneys filtering?” he asked.

Omotuyi identified several unsafe practices that could introduce harmful substances into food, including the misuse of pesticides in farming, the use of artificial dyes to enhance the appearance of palm oil, the application of calcium carbide to ripen fruits, and the use of contaminated equipment and colouring agents in pepper processing. (Sunday Tribune)