How many food processors in Nigeria are actually operating under sanitary conditions, and how many are relying on our collective faith?
Bread rarely makes an appearance on my family’s menu. We consume so few loaves a year that I could easily count them at the end of the year.
But this morning was an exception. We bought a small loaf for ₦400, and if you know current market rates, you can already picture just how tiny it was.
I felt an unexplainable hesitation before taking that first bite, roughly two hours after drinking my clove tea. Maybe my heart was trying to warn me.
Sure enough, the very second bite was crunching with grit, as if raw sand had been measured directly into the flour. I tried to push through, but after another mouthfull of grit, I gave up and left the loaf.That was when I inspected the packaging closely. The wrapper was dull and unappealing.
If consumer choices were driven purely by aesthetics, no one would touch it. I looked for an email address to lodge a complaint, but found none.
Fortunately, Olarewaju Special Loaf printed two customer service numbers on their nylon.
By this point, the grit was so stuck in my teeth that I had to unwrap a brand-new hard toothbrush just to scrub my mouth clean.
Annoyed, I dialed the first number (08074693928), only to hear an “invalid line” automated message. I tried the second number (07018000099). It didn’t ring initially, but on a later attempt, someone picked up, only to stay completely silent for ten seconds before hanging up.
It becomes obvious that these contact details and fabricated nutritional figuresrandomly populated numbers for sugar, salt, and vitaminsare placed on packaging merely to check a box, not to offer accountability.
This experience highlights a glaring systemic problem in the Nigerian food processing sector.
Weak regulatory enforcement and oversight allow unhygienic practices to thrive unchecked.
Consumer safety shouldn’t depend on luck or faith.
Regulatory bodies like NAFDAC must enforce strict standards and restore accountability to an industry that directly impacts public health.
