Toxic red: Inside deadly trade in dye-laced palm oil, coloured pepper - Daily Post Nigeria

Many Nigerian households regularly use palm oil and ground pepper, but unscrupulous traders have started mixing low-grade palm oil with industrial dyes like Sudan III and IV, candle wax, pap, and heavy starches to produce a bright red appearance. The same deception occurs in the dried pepper market, where spoiled pepper remnants, dried stems, cassava flour, and sawdust are ground and dyed with textile dyes to produce fake spicy pepper. Experienced traders describe how to distinguish genuine oil from adulterated, noting that real palm oil is less red, smells like fresh palm kernel, and feels less sticky, advising consumers to buy from trusted vendors.