Nigerian vendors caught mixing chemical dyes into ground pepper

Vendors across Nigerian markets are secretly mixing industrial-grade chemical dyes into low-quality ground pepper and tomatoes to boost colour and sales, exposing millions of unsuspecting consumers to serious long-term health risks.

When Chidinma Abayomi visited a bustling market in Ibadan recently, she expected a routine shopping trip. What she witnessed instead would change how she thought about every meal she had ever eaten.

At a local grinding shop, she noticed several large basins filled with ground chilli so vividly red it looked almost artificial. When she quietly asked a young attendant nearby whether the contents were waste, he glanced around and lowered his voice. “No aunty, na colour dey inside,” he said. The mixture, he explained, was made from discarded chilli seeds enhanced with coloured powder to achieve the eye-catching red that draws in buyers. “Aunty, no be real pepper. Na fake fire,” he added.

For Abayomi, it was a deeply unsettling moment. “Many of the ground peppers we rush to buy are just colour, not real chilli. And we wonder why our food sometimes tastes strange, or why stew looks red but isn’t spicy,” she said. She went further, raising concerns about the cumulative toll on health: “Imagine eating stew made with detergent-washed tomatoes and colour-added pepper. What will be left of your liver or kidney?”

Her account is far from isolated. Physician Dr Adefunke Arowolo recently went viral on TikTok and Instagram after posting videos showing vendors secretly adding red substances to freshly ground pepper while customers waited. Her clips attracted over 254,000 views within two days.

Arowolo explained the economic logic behind the practice. When tomatoes are unripe, they lack the vivid redness that Nigerian consumers expect in their stew and jollof rice. Rather than sourcing better produce, some vendors simply add dye to cheaper, lower-quality blends. “If stew or jollof rice is not red enough, many people will reject it,” she said. “So vendors cut corners by using cheaper produce and adding dye to enhance the colour.”

The health consequences, she warned, could be severe. Many of the substances used are not food-grade dyes but chemicals designed for textiles or plastics. “When these chemicals enter the body repeatedly, they can cause stomach irritation, liver stress, kidney damage, and long-term health complications,” she cautioned. Her advice was blunt: “If your stew is redder than a traffic light, you should start asking questions.”

Company physician Dr Frederick Unuigbokhai echoed these concerns, noting that short-term consumption can cause abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. Over time, however, the damage becomes far more serious. “Repeated consumption of foods containing harmful dyes can lead to liver damage and kidney disease as toxic substances accumulate in the body,” he said.

Several consumers described alarming first-hand experiences. A student in Port Harcourt, Miracle Amos, reported sharp chest pain, strange smells, and odd tastes after cooking both jollof rice and noodles with market-bought ground pepper. She threw it away immediately. Another student, Kikelomo Aderibigbe, discovered maggots in ground pepper she had purchased but not yet used. “I immediately threw it away and have never bought it again,” she said.

Public health expert James Odubia traced the behaviour to economic desperation. Fresh produce spoils quickly, and vendors operating on razor-thin margins in competitive markets feel pressure to make their goods look appealing at minimal cost. “Weak regulatory enforcement and limited routine inspection further enable this behaviour,” he said, adding that many dyes used are linked to organ damage, allergies, and potentially cancer.

Nigeria’s food safety regulator, NAFDAC, condemned the practice. Its media consultant Sayo Akintola said that while the agency had not yet confirmed dye use in ground pepper specifically, it had documented similar adulteration in palm oil. “These substances affect internal organs,” he warned. “The effects only become noticeable after significant harm has been done.”

For many Nigerians, the response has been personal: buy dry chilli and grind it at home, grow what you can, and trust nothing that looks too bright or costs too little. As veteran grinding vendor Lamidi Agbaje, with over 40 years in the trade, put it simply: “Everyone wants to make money, and that is where the problem lies.”