Jemima Osunde Raises Alarm Over Food Adulteration in Nigeria: ‘How Do We Avoid These Things?’

Nollywood actress Jemima Osunde has raised concerns over what she described as the growing difficulty of protecting oneself from unsafe food products in Nigeria.

The actress took to social media to question how Nigerians can completely avoid consuming food that may have been adulterated or contaminated, particularly as concerns over food safety continue to surface.

“How is someone supposed to 100% avoid consuming these things?” Osunde asked, expressing frustration over the challenges consumers face when trying to determine whether the food they buy is safe.

Her comments come against the backdrop of her previous account of serious health problems she said began after she consumed contaminated food while working on a movie set in Ibadan.

Osunde had disclosed that she was diagnosed with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), a bacterium that can infect the stomach, after the incident.

She also said she later developed Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), a digestive condition that affected her health for an extended period.

The actress’s latest comments have sparked renewed concerns about the safety of food sold and consumed across Nigeria, particularly where consumers have limited information about how food is produced, handled, stored and distributed.

Her remarks also highlight the broader challenge of ensuring food safety in a country where contamination or adulteration can occur at different stages of the supply chain.

The concerns have renewed calls for stronger monitoring and enforcement by relevant authorities, alongside greater accountability among food producers, vendors and distributors.

For consumers, Osunde’s question reflects a wider concern: how can Nigerians confidently protect themselves when they cannot always determine what has happened to their food before it reaches their plates?