Cost of living crisis: Driven by desperation, low purchasing power, Nigerians turn to expired goods
The sun was beginning to set on a typical workday in October 2024 when Mr Bitrus made his way home. It was a long day at work and his stomach grumbled for skipping lunch. Bitrus, a resident of Maiduguri in Borno State, said he spotted a roadside shop and quickly bought a small plastic bottle […]
Barely an hour later, a sharp pain twisted Bitrus’ stomach, alerting him that something was wrong. The discomfort escalated and sweat formed on his brow as he struggled to understand what was happening. Then, a troubling realisation struck him. Worried, he checked the expiry date on the yoghurt bottle and noticed that it had long passed. He had disposed of the biscuit wrap and would never know if that, too, had expired.
By the time he arrived home that evening, the stomach upset had worsened and diarrhoea set in. Weak and dehydrated, Bitrus was admitted into a nearby hospital for the night, and the doctors confirmed what he feared: food poisoning.
Bitrus is one of at least a dozen Nigerians who responded to a social media request by Weekend Trust on March 12, 2025, asking them to share their stories about knowingly or unknowingly purchasing and consuming expired products. He is one of many survivors of expired and contaminated food times’ consumption, many of which are sold openly in some parts of the country.
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In this investigation, a Weekend Trust’s reporter went undercover into a bustling market in one of the major satellite communities in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) where thousands of people tug at one another to purchase expired food items. From baby formulas to cereal, soda drinks and other household products, Bonanza Market in Mararaba, Nasarawa State, serves as the go-to outdoor shopping mall for many citizens of low economic background.
Josephine Igah (not real name), a resident of Mararaba, on the outskirts of the FCT struggled with her relative over her penchant for purchasing and consuming expired food and non-food items. Her relative, Mercy (not real name), always succumbed to the tempting low prices of items at a market that has come to be known as Bonanza Market; a name derived from the low prices of goods, especially foreign brand cereals and baby formulas.
“To her, purchasing goods at cheaper prices is a smart way of saving money. She buys milk, cornflakes, sugar, spices and even sanitary pads at significantly lower prices,” Igah said.
She confessed to having also consumed a number of the expired items without knowing until things took a drastic turn in November 2024. Igah narrated how she consumed a bottle of lemon juice from the carton brought by her sister without minding the expiry date. Soon after, she was hit by bouts of stomach pain and later, a wave of diarrhoea. She, however, said she did not suspect that the product had expired; instead, she was convinced that her stomach had reacted to the acidity of the lemon. It was not until after about a month that she noticed that the juice had expired a year earlier.
It was then she started to put the pieces, linking her periodic stomach pains and diarrhoea to some of the food spices and other items her relative had brought to the house for consumption.
Igah said her relative experienced diarrhoea and unexplained fatigue, which she could not understand.
She said that despite words of caution against the use of expired products, Mercy constantly defended her choices, saying, “If these products were harmful, I would have died long ago.”
This newspaper used its social media handles to engage with citizens, requesting them to share their experiences with expired food items. While some commentators expressed vigilance before purchasing food and non-food items, others reflected on the prevailing economic hardship that pushed them to purchase expired goods.
A’isha Sabitu, a Facebook user, said: “I always check the details of what I am buying. I am a food technologist.”
However, Seth worries that sellers of expired items take advantage of the low purchasing power of the average Nigerian. He said: “The sellers know that things are hard, so they reduce the prices slightly and people rush to buy.”
However, people like Alex Mark Ujah, said: “Anything goes nowadays. Whatever we see, we eat.”
On a daily basis, thousands of Nigerians working in the Federal Capital Territory commute from Nyanya, Mararaba, Masaka and other communities along the long stretch of the Abuja-Keffi Highway. Many of these communities are located in Nasarawa State and provide affordable housing for middle and low-income earners as well as small business owners in Abuja.
But on Sundays, many residents of these densely populated communities rush to the Bonanza Market, a popular shopping hub that has become one of the busiest at Mararaba. Bonanza Market draws a crowd daily but becomes highly populated on Sundays, which is the market day when vendors selling a wide range of goods, from food items and cosmetics to household essentials, put them on display.
Here, expired food items, drinks and cosmetics flood wooden shelves, enticing buyers willing to overlook expiry dates stamped on packages. Some spots in the market appear more crowded than others, drawing curious customers, including this reporter. A closer look at the shelves, however, revealed a troubling trend: many of the products on display were expired, but buyers believe that these products, despite their stark expiry dates, are harmless.
Based on a tip-off, Weekend Trust reporter visited Bonanza Market to observe its activities. The scene was full of vendors selling all kinds of products. “Desperation and necessity” are said to drive mothers and caregivers to the market where expired baby foods are sold at a fraction of the original market price.
“I have no choice,” said a mother, while conversing with another woman, indicating that she could not afford the fresh stock. Holding rolls of 25g sachets of a popular cereal and a tin of milk (infant formula for 0-12 months), she jostled with other buyers for a chance to secure other cheap, albeit outdated baby foods for her infant.
Shoppers held sachets of milk, cereals and spices, seemingly unconcerned by expiry dates that had long passed. This reporter overheard a group of customers conversing thus: “They just labelled it, but even if you consume it, it will do nothing,” one said to the other as others nodded in agreement.
Enticed by the heavily discounted prices and unable to afford standardised items, consumers could be heard discussing how the market offers them better and cheaper alternative food items.
“It is what we can manage,” a shopper said, during a conversation. Their nonchalance was evident as they filled their bags with expired goods, not minding the potential health risks.
This reporter purchased some items: a 454g pack of a baby cereal which expired in October 2024. It was sold for N800, as against its usual market price of between N9,000 and N12,000. He also purchased 10 sachets of cereal (25g each) produced by a popular beverage company. The product, which expired in August 2024, was sold for N80 per sachet, even though the actual market price for each sachet was N300.
While trying to purchase a 300g pack of a popular cereal meant for infants aged six months to three years, our reporter noticed another buyer waiting anxiously to purchase the same product. It was the last one on the wooden shelf, and its expiry date was made visible when carefully inspected, as August 2024.
The countenance of the other buyer showed desperation as she eagerly waited for this reporter to put it down so that she could pick it up. Worried that the product could end up in the belly of an infant, our reporter decided to buy the baby cereal for N1,200, more than 400 per cent less than its actual price range of between N6,000 and N8,000.
Other products had expiry dates beyond a year or two. This reporter picked up a pack of 350g of another cereal labelled with an expiry date of May 2022, priced at N800. Also, a 400g of another popular cereal was offered at N900 despite an expiry date of August 2023. It was discovered that these commodities cost N2,300 and N2,000 respectively at a supermarket.
The Counterfeit and Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Foods (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act outlines measures to curb sales of expired products. The Act prohibits the production, importation, sale and distribution of counterfeit, adulterated, banned or expired food products.
According to Section 1(1.3) of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) guidelines for handling and disposal of unwholesome medicines, and its regulated products (food, medicines, medical devices, cosmetics etc) in Nigeria, products are considered unwholesome when they are expired, improperly sealed, damaged and improperly stored, improperly labelled, counterfeit, substandard, fake and adulterated, prohibited and unauthorised
Section 1 of the Counterfeit and Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Foods (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act states that any individual involved in the sale and distribution of counterfeit, adulterated, banned or fake, substandard or expired drug or unwholesome processed food has committed an offence; while Section 3(1)(a) states that offenders are liable to a fine not exceeding N500,000 or imprisonment for a term of not less than five years or more than 15 years, or both.
To ensure effective enforcement, the Act establishes both federal and state task forces. Section 5 details the formation of the federal task force, which includes officers from NAFDAC, the Nigeria Police Force and other regulatory bodies. These task forces are empowered to conduct unscheduled visits to premises, seize counterfeit products and seal up offending establishments.
Similarly, Section 243 of the Criminal Code Act describes it as a criminal offence for any individual to sell or possess, with intent to sell, food or drink that has become noxious or unfit for consumption. The law stipulates that the offender, upon conviction, faces a misdemeanour charge punishable by up to one year of imprisonment.
The head of Nutrition and Dietetics at the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, Abuja, Dr Ugwu Cosmas, warns against consumption of expired food items, saying it poses severe health risks, including life-threatening illnesses.
Cosmas said expired products undergo chemical changes, turning once-safe preservatives into harmful compounds. He warned that expired foods harbour harmful bacteria, such as Shigella, E. coli and Salmonella which can lead to severe infections, cholera or even death.
Speaking on expired infant formula food, he noted that infants have fragile digestive and immune systems that make them more vulnerable. He linked consumption of expired baby formula food to diarrhoea, malnutrition, kwashiorkor and kidney failure in children.
“Parents think they are saving money, but they are risking their babies’ lives,” he cautioned. Instead of expired formula food, he urged parents to consider natural and locally sourced food alternatives and seek professional dietary advice.
In this investigation, Weekend Trust found that many expired products at the Bonanza market belonged to different brands. Some of the affected companies were contacted via their email addresses and contact chat boxes on their websites for their responses, but only Nestlé obliged.
Nestle Nigeria’s head, Corporate Communications, Public Affairs and Sustainability, Victoria Uwadoka, said the company worked closely with distributors and retailers to ensure that all their products reached consumers in the best possible condition.
“Our priority is the safety and wellbeing of our consumers. We have a very robust, effective and efficient policy that allows retailers and distributors to return products nearing expiration, which are then replaced with fresh stock,” she said.
Uwadoka explained that this system ensured there’s no advantage for retailers to keep or sell expired goods.
Uwadoka expressed surprise at the findings of this investigation, which show that expired products from Nestle are being sold in open markets despite the company’s claim of strict quality control measures.
Laboratory tests confirm health risk
The Assistant Chief Regulatory Officer at the NAFDAC’s laboratory in Kaduna, Ahmed Suleiman, while responding to our reporter’s request, noted that laboratory tests are only conducted on products suspected to be substandard but still within their shelf lives.
“As long as a product is declared expired, you don’t need laboratory analysis. If somebody is selling such a product or knowingly buying it for use, he/she is doing so at his/her own risk,” Suleiman said.
He noted that expiry dates guarantee the safety of a product only within the specified period, after which it should no longer be considered fit for consumption.
Wanting to know if the expired products purchased were contaminated and their level of contamination, our reporter turned to the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) laboratory in Lagos for scientific verification.
Three products bought at Bonanza Market were packaged and dispatched via air transport on February 7 to the SON laboratory in Lagos for physicochemical, microbial and mycotoxin analysis. The organisation confirmed receipt of the products on February 11. However, the result of the laboratory analysis was made available on March 5, 2025.
Earlier, the SON had recommended physicochemical, microbial and mycotoxin tests on the products. The test result made available to this newspaper shows that the organisation had used parameters drawn from the FDA 2013 Food Code and EU Regulation EC No 2073/2005, both of which set microbiological safety standards for food products.
The results revealed alarming levels of contamination, making all tested products unfit for human consumption; and therefore, tagged “Not satisfactory.” The microbial analysis of one of the products, which expired in October 2023, showed staphylococcus aureus at 130 cfu/g, surpassing the 100 cfu/g limit set by the FDA and EU – two international food safety regulations. The result also shows that this product is “not satisfactory.”
Explaining further, Comfort Arannilewa, the head of Food Technology Laboratory at the SON, who is also one of the signatories on the result, defined “not satisfactory” to mean that the product is “not fit for consumption.”
The microbial result of a baby cereal with milk, which expired in August 2024, was shown to contain yeast and mould at 170 cfu/g, exceeding the 100 cfu/g safety threshold. The result also concluded that the product was “not satisfactory.”
Arannilewa warned that mould exposure could trigger allergic reactions, food poisoning and fungal infections in babies. She said prolonged consumption of mould-contaminated food could also result in liver and kidney damage due to the toxins some moulds produce.
The most alarming microbial result came from the ‘crunches,’ which tested positive for both staphylococcus aureus and yeast/mould. The cereal had expired in May 2022, but was still being sold at Bonanza Market in Mararaba, Nasarawa State. Laboratory analysis revealed that the product contained 200 cfu/g of staphylococcus aureus and 220 cfu/g of yeast/mould, both exceeding the acceptable safety limits.
Arannilewa said the combination of bacterial and fungal contamination significantly increased the risk of food poisoning, severe infections and long-term health complications.
Following the physicochemical, microbial analysis, Weekend Trust was curious to know if these expired products had developed more dangerous poisons produced by certain moulds (fungi), and therefore, requested that a mycotoxin analysis test for aflatoxins (G2, G1, B2, B1) be carried out following an expert’s opinion to conduct the test. The result showed that the products passed, indicating no detectable presence of these toxins.
According to a publication by Toxin Review journal, volume 29, page 3 to 26, aflatoxins are a group of furanocoumarin mycotoxins; poisonous fungal metabolites, primarily produced by aspergillus flavus and A parasiticus in warm, humid conditions. Among them, B₁, B₂, G₁, and G₂ are the major naturally occurring forms.
Speaking on the aflatoxin analysis, Arannilewa clarified that although the tested products passed the aflatoxin test, they failed the microbial safety test; and therefore, remain unsafe for human consumption.
The findings from the SON laboratory aligned with the view of Dr Ugwu Cosmas, Head of Nutrition and Dietetics at the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, Abuja, who warned that expired food items could expose consumers to life-threatening illnesses.
He specifically linked the presence of harmful bacteria to conditions such as persistent diarrhoea, malnutrition, kwashiorkor and kidney failure in children.
The laboratory results reinforce these concerns, with the detection of staphylococcus aureus, known to cause food poisoning and severe infections, as well as yeast and mould, which can trigger allergic reactions and damage vital organs like the liver and kidneys.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has declared that the sale of expired food items in markets is an offence that will not be tolerated, warning that individuals or businesses found guilty will face prosecution.
Presented with the findings of this investigation, the FCT Director of NAFDAC, Mr Azikiwe Kenneth, condemned the practice, describing it as “profiting from people’s ignorance,” and reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to prosecuting offenders.
According to the director, the agency operates under the Act N1, laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, which empowers it to regulate every stage of the lifecycle of regulated products from manufacturing and importation to distribution, advertisement, sale and even usage.
He said although the agency was not omnipresent, it took public reports seriously and would act swiftly when specific information was provided.
This report was completed with the support of Daily Trust Foundation (DTF), in collaboration with MacArthur Foundation.