At markets across Ondo State, brightly coloured bananas, mangoes, plantains and oranges among other fruits and vegetables often attract buyers seeking quick, affordable fruit. But behind some of that appealing appearance may lie a practice that health authorities have repeatedly warned against: the use of calcium carbide and other chemicals to force fruits to ripen faster than nature intended.

Alongside this concern is the misuse of Sniper, a common household name for dichlorvos (DDVP), a highly toxic pesticide sometimes applied directly to beans, grains, crayfish and other food items to preserve them from pests and spoilage.

Both practices raise serious food-safety questions for consumers in Ondo State and across Nigeria.

Fruits naturally ripen through the release of ethylene, a plant hormone. Traders and farmers can use approved ripening methods, including controlled exposure to ethylene, to manage supply and meet market demand.

The danger arises when unapproved substances such as calcium carbide are used. Calcium carbide can release harmful impurities, including arsine and phosphine gases, which health authorities link to serious health risks.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says fruits ripened with calcium carbide may expose consumers to cancer, heart, kidney and liver failure.

NAFDAC has also warned that artificially ripened fruits may cause irritation of the mouth and nose, weakness, vomiting, skin ulcers, difficulty swallowing and, in higher exposures, fluid build-up in the lungs. The agency says pregnant women and children face heightened risks, including headache, dizziness, confusion, seizures and other neurological effects.

For consumers, the challenge is that chemically ripened fruit may look ripe while lacking the full taste, texture and nutritional quality of naturally ripened produce. More importantly, residues and chemical by-products may remain in or on the fruit.

Sniper is widely known in Nigeria as a small bottle of dichlorvos, an organophosphate insecticide. It is not approved for direct application to food meant for human consumption.

NAFDAC banned the sale of 100 ml or smaller packs of dichlorvos, commonly sold as Sniper, in 2019, while restricting one-litre packs to certified agrochemical outlets. The agency says the chemical is toxic and can have fatal consequences when misused.

The regulator has specifically warned traders against using dichlorvos to preserve beans, stockfish, crayfish and other foods. It says food contaminated with the chemical can cause dizziness, vomiting, breathing difficulty, tremors, convulsions, coma and death.

A major concern is that washing food after contamination does not remove the risk.

NAFDAC explains that residues may already have soaked into the food, making washing an unreliable form of protection.

The continued use of chemical ripening and Sniper in food preservation is driven by a mix of economic pressure, weak enforcement and limited awareness.

Traders may use calcium carbide to hasten ripening and reduce losses during transportation and storage. Similarly, some grain traders and food sellers may apply sniper to protect stock from weevils and other pests, especially where proper storage facilities, fumigation services or safer alternatives are unavailable.

NAFDAC notes that improper pesticide use includes applying products at excessive rates, using them on crops for which they are not recommended, harvesting before the required waiting period, and storing pesticides alongside food or household items.

The agency’s 2025 enforcement operations, which included seizures of banned pesticides valued at more than N800 million in Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo states, show that Ondo is part of the wider battleground against illegal and unsafe agrochemical circulation.

For Ondo State, where agriculture remains central to livelihoods and food supply, the issue is both a public-health and market-integrity concern. Farmers, traders, transporters, market women and consumers are all part of a chain in which unsafe practices can spread quickly if not checked.

The appointment of an Executive Chairman of the Ondo State Competition and Consumer Protection Agency (ODCCPA) by Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa has raised expectations that the state will take a more active role in protecting consumers from unsafe and substandard products.

For the ODCCPA to make a meaningful difference, its response must go beyond issuing warnings. The agency will need a practical, visible and sustained strategy that protects consumers while supporting honest traders and farmers.

The responsibility for safe food does not rest with government alone.

Farmers must avoid applying unapproved chemicals directly to food. Traders must reject calcium carbide and Sniper as shortcuts for ripening or preservation. Consumers should be cautious about fruits that ripen unnaturally fast or uniformly, and avoid food sellers known to use hazardous chemicals.

But government must lead. Ondo State has an opportunity to turn consumer protection from a slogan into a practical public-health intervention. A strong ODCCPA, working with NAFDAC and other agencies, can help ensure that the fruits, grains and food items sold in markets nourish families rather than expose them to avoidable harm.

The true measure of success will not be the number of warnings issued, but the confidence residents can have that the food they buy is safe, wholesome and fit for consumption