Rotten bargains: Nigerians risk health for cheap tomatoes

In a bid to save money amid rising food prices, some Nigerians are turning to deteriorating tomatoes and pepper, DANIEL AYANTOYE writes

At Ojodu-Berger roadside market in Lagos, Ronke Adeoye, a mother of three, pauses to inspect a basket of tomatoes.

Some are firm and red, while others have softened, developed dark patches or begun to rot.

The trader notices her hesitation and offers her a cheaper option, tomatoes popularly called esa, arranged separately on a plate.

The trader insists that although some portions are rotten, the remaining tomatoes are still good for cooking.

The price is lower than that of fresh tomatoes, and for a household struggling to manage its food budget, the difference matters.

After some bargaining, Adeoye buys three plates of the tomatoes for N1,500, explaining that she cannot always afford to buy the best-looking produce.

“I had to buy the esa (rotten tomatoes) because it is cheaper. You can imagine that a plate of the ones that are not rotten costs N1,000 and contains only five tomatoes, while this one has more. I got three plates for N1,500. The difference is clear, my brother,” she tells Sunday PUNCH.

Adeoye’s decision reflects a practice found in some Nigerian food markets, where tomatoes and peppers that have begun to deteriorate are sorted and offered to buyers at reduced prices.

Traders arrange the produce in separate plates and display them on their counters or beside roadsides, while some consumers buy them because they are cheaper than fresh ones.

For buyers, purchasing such produce may appear to be a practical way of stretching household income.

Some also believe that cutting away the visibly rotten portions and cooking the remaining parts makes them safe for consumption.

Another consumer at Ketu Market, Ifeoluwa Olayiwola, said she regularly buys esa tomatoes and peppers because of their lower prices.

She said, “I don’t see anything bad in it. In fact, I buy them often because they are cheaper. Once you grind and cook them very well, I don’t think there will be any problem. You can see me; do I look sick? I have a budget for cooking every week, and these tomatoes and pepper are what I buy.”

Asked how much she spends on the produce, Olayiwola said she sometimes spends between N2,500 and N3,000 and visits the market twice a week to buy food items.

Her account points to how some households have incorporated discounted, deteriorating produce into their regular food budgets.

Spoilt, yet attracting buyers

During visits to Berger, Ketu and Ojota markets, Sunday PUNCH observed that tomato and pepper traders displayed their produce in separate sections, allowing customers to choose between fresh-looking items and those that had begun to deteriorate.

At a roadside stall in Berger, some of the tomatoes displayed for sale had visible signs of spoilage, including white, mucus-like patches.

Liquid from the tomatoes had also collected at the bottom of one of the plates.

Rather than discard such produce, some traders separated the damaged tomatoes and peppers from the fresh ones and sold them at reduced prices.

The arrangement attracted customers looking for cheaper alternatives.

At Berger Market, a tomato trader, Funmilayo Olaiya, sat under the scorching afternoon sun attending to customers when our correspondent approached her.

During the visit, a customer negotiated with her over the price of the damaged tomatoes before eventually buying them.

Olaiya said the produce had buyers because many households were struggling financially.

She said, “There is no one who does not buy it. It is also good for eating, especially for those who do not have much money. We all know that there is no money; everybody is managing.

“So, instead of throwing it away, which is also a loss, we sell them (rotten tomatoes) at a low price.”

Another trader, Joy Solomon, said some of the tomatoes became damaged before they arrived at the market, blaming their condition on transportation.

“When I bought it, it was not broken like that, but before the vehicle brought it here, it had become bad. So, instead of throwing it away, I have to sell it like that. People buy it and use it. Even I use it to cook,” she said.

At Ojota Market, another trader, Mariam, said the need to avoid losses often influenced their decision to sell the damaged produce quickly.

“We cannot allow it to waste. That is why we have to sell it quickly. People even buy this (rotten tomatoes) more than that one because it is cheap,” she said.

The traders explained that tomatoes and peppers do not always remain fresh for long, particularly when exposed to heat, poor ventilation and rough handling during transportation and storage.

These traders selling these spoilt perishable foods at reduced prices saw an opportunity to recover part of their investment instead of losing their entire stock.

The food vendors’ choice

The practice is not limited to households. Some roadside food vendors also buy damaged tomatoes and peppers to keep the cost of preparing meals within their budgets.

At Ketu Market, a roadside food vendor identified simply as Iya Halima said she bought both damaged and fresh tomatoes, depending on their availability and prices.

She said, “I do buy a mixture of the broken tomatoes (esa) and the unbroken ones. It depends. There is no one that is not good for stew. Once you grind it very well and cook it properly, you will enjoy the stew. My customers like the stew, and you cannot tell the difference after cooking.”

Another mobile food vendor at the market said the rising cost of food items had made it difficult to rely entirely on fresh produce.

“I prefer esa. With the way everything is costly, who will pay for the food? Even with this one, there are many people owing me money. Is it with that that I will be buying costly pepper?” she asked.

A roadside vendor at Ojota, Grace Olayinka, said she avoided damaged tomatoes because some might have deteriorated beyond what could be seen.

She said, “Pepper is a bit cheaper, but tomatoes and onions are costly. I don’t buy broken tomatoes because some of them would have spoilt. I only sell what I can eat. Esa is cheaper, but I believe whatever is within one’s capacity is what he or she will buy.

“What it will eventually produce will determine the outcome, and the taste of stew cooked with broken tomatoes will definitely be different from that made with fresh tomatoes.”

While some food vendors consider esa a cheaper alternative that can still produce acceptable meals, others avoid it because of concerns about spoilage and the quality of their food.

For customers who buy meals from roadside vendors, however, the choice of ingredients may not always be obvious.

A customer may be unaware that damaged tomatoes or peppers were used in preparing a meal.

Hunger before food safety

For some customers, the type of tomatoes used in preparing their meals is the least of their concerns, particularly when hunger and the cost of food are pressing.

A commercial bus driver at Berger Garage, Wasiu Alao, was eating at a food kiosk when this correspondent approached him. Asked whether he knew if the tomatoes used in preparing his meal were fresh or esa, he dismissed the question.

“What is my business about the tomatoes? What type of question is that? I am eating, and you are asking me rubbish. The food is okay, and whether it is esa or not, as long as I am filled up,” he said.

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Similarly, a businessman, Ibere Philip, said customers rarely ask food vendors about the ingredients used in preparing their meals, particularly when they are hungry.

“My brother, nobody has time to be asking a food seller what kind of tomatoes they used for cooking. Once the taste of the food is okay, you just have to buy it. Especially when you are hungry, you will not have time to ask that question,” he said.

Post-harvest losses

The sale of deteriorating tomatoes and peppers in Nigerian markets is part of a wider post-harvest challenge that affects the country’s food supply, farmers and traders.

A 2023 report by the HortiNigeria programme, titled Scoping and Mapping of Postharvest Losses and Tuta Absoluta Related Losses, and the Technologies for Combating the Losses, estimated that about 30 per cent of vegetables become unfit for consumption due to spoilage after harvesting.

The report, prepared by researchers Aderibigbe Olaide, and Oke Abiola, noted that vegetables are particularly vulnerable to bruising and damage during harvesting, packaging, transportation and storage because of their soft texture.

Its assessment of the tomato value chain across Oyo, Ogun, Kano and Kaduna states found that losses varied at different stages of production and distribution.

Producers reported an average loss of 26.74 per cent, followed by marketers with 22.5 per cent, processors with 16.58 per cent and transporters with 12.2 per cent.

The report identified poor road conditions, unsuitable packaging, overloading of vehicles, delays during transportation and inadequate refrigeration among the challenges contributing to losses.

It also identified production, harvesting and market-level activities as major points where tomatoes deteriorated.

A separate study published in 2021 in Agriculture and Food Sciences Research, which examined post-harvest losses among 120 tomato marketers in five markets in Ibadan, found that traders lost an average of 18.9 per cent of their tomato purchases.

The researchers estimated the financial loss at N124,800 daily among the marketers studied.

The study, titled Postharvest Losses of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) in the Open Markets in Ibadan Metropolis, identified poor packaging and storage as major causes of the losses.

All the respondents said they adopted sorting as a way of reducing losses.

The findings suggest that a significant proportion of tomato deterioration occurs before the produce reaches consumers.

For traders who have already paid for their stock, selling damaged produce at reduced prices may appear preferable to discarding it entirely.

Fungi and toxins

However, the economic cost of post-harvest losses does not establish that produce showing signs of spoilage is safe for consumption.

The distinction is particularly important when visible mould is involved.

A mould is a type of fungus that grows on food and other surfaces, particularly in warm, damp conditions.

It often appears as fuzzy, powdery or slimy patches that may be white, green, black, blue or grey.

Guidance from the University of Connecticut Extension advises that mouldy soft produce, including tomatoes, should be discarded because contamination may extend below the visible surface.

The World Health Organisation also warns that certain moulds produce mycotoxins, toxic compounds that can cause acute poisoning and other long-term health effects.

Some of these toxins are chemically stable and can survive food processing.

Although there are no readily available figures showing how many Nigerians have fallen ill or developed cancer specifically from consuming rotten tomatoes and peppers, health authorities and scientific studies have established that contaminated food can cause serious illnesses, while exposure to certain food toxins has been linked to cancer.

The WHO, in its updated estimates published in June 2026, reported that contaminated food caused an estimated 866 million illnesses and 1.52 million deaths worldwide in 2021.

The estimates covered 42 biological and chemical hazards across 194 countries, with Africa and South-East Asia bearing the highest burden.

Children under five were particularly vulnerable, with foodborne illness incidence 2.7 times higher than among people aged five and above.

However, the figures cover different sources of food contamination and cannot be attributed specifically to rotten tomatoes or peppers.

Beyond foodborne infections, researchers have also raised concerns about mycotoxins, toxic substances produced by certain moulds, some of which are associated with cancer.

A 2023 study published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, titled Quantitative Assessment of Aflatoxin Exposure and Hepatocellular Carcinoma Risk Associated with Consumption of Select Nigerian Staple Foods, examined the potential liver cancer risk linked to aflatoxin exposure through the consumption of selected Nigerian foods.

Mycotoxins are associated with cancer, but the study examined other food commodities and did not establish a cancer risk from tomatoes or peppers.

Their model estimated that maize accounted for 1.77 potential aflatoxin-attributable liver cancer cases per 100,000 people annually, followed by groundnuts at 0.44, rice at 0.43, cowpeas at 0.15 and soybeans at 0.01.

The estimates were modelled risks rather than actual hospital diagnoses. More importantly, the study did not examine tomatoes or peppers, and its findings cannot be used to conclude that consumers of visibly spoilt produce are developing cancer.

The evidence nevertheless raises questions about the safety of food exposed to certain moulds and the need for more research into deteriorating fresh produce sold in Nigerian markets.

Experts warn

Experts in food science and mycology have warned consumers against buying and eating tomatoes that have visibly spoilt, saying that removing the affected portions or cooking the produce may not necessarily make it safe.

A Professor of Food and Nutritional Biochemistry in the Faculty of Agriculture, Rivers State University, Simeon Achinewhu, said tomatoes showing signs of spoilage could harbour harmful microorganisms and should not be consumed.

He said, “Any tomatoes that are spoilt are spoilt. It means that there are bacteria that could be very harmful to humans, and they should not be consumed.

“If they go through cooking, it may reduce the effect of the bacteria. Spoilt tomatoes are for the dustbin; they are not good for human consumption.”

Achinewhu called for greater public awareness among traders and consumers, warning that the need to save money should not come at the expense of people’s health.

“There is a need for traders and customers to be educated and cautioned against it. It doesn’t matter the level of poverty; go for the fresh ones for the sake of your health,” he added.

Similarly, a Professor of Mycology and Plant Pathology in the Faculty of Sciences, National Open University of Nigeria, Michael Ayodele, said deterioration in tomatoes could result from bacterial or fungal activity, with the latter raising additional concerns about possible toxin production.

“There are some that are spoilt because of bacteria, and the bacteria will die when they are cooked, but there are others caused by fungi. They are more dangerous than the ones rotten by bacteria because the fungi will cause mycotoxins, which no matter how much they heat it will not destroy,” he said.

Ayodele advised consumers to avoid buying visibly spoilt tomatoes because they may not be able to distinguish between produce affected by bacteria and those affected by fungi.

“The best thing is to avoid buying it because they may not be able to differentiate the ones caused by bacteria and the ones caused by fungi,” he added.

Mycotoxins are toxic substances produced by certain types of fungi. Some are resistant to heat and may remain in food even after cooking.

However, not all fungi produce mycotoxins, and laboratory analysis is required to establish whether a particular food contains them.

Meanwhile, efforts to obtain the position of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control on the sale of visibly spoilt tomatoes and peppers proved unsuccessful.

Calls and messages sent to the mobile telephone of the agency’s Communications Consultant, Sayo Akintola, were not responded to as of the time of filing this report.