Experts warn that repeatedly reheating cooking oil, a common practice in Nigerian homes due to rising costs, can produce cancer-causing toxins.
With food prices soaring and households under pressure to cut costs, many Nigerians are reusing cooking oil several times to stretch their budgets. However, health experts warn that reheating oil more than twice can generate toxic compounds that increase the risk of cancer.
In homes across the country, it is common to fry akara in the morning, plantain in the afternoon, and reuse the same oil for stew or fish later. Some households recycle the oil four or five times. But scientists say that when oil is repeatedly heated, it breaks down into harmful substances such as free radicals, acrolein, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), all of which have been linked to cancer.
Studies have associated reheated oil with breast, colorectal, pancreatic, and liver cancers. Research published in the Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition also found that animals fed food fried in repeatedly heated oil developed liver toxicity and cancerous changes.
Experts advise households to use smaller amounts of oil, switch to cooking methods such as grilling or air-frying, and avoid topping up old oil with fresh batches. “Nigeria is tough right now,” one nutritionist said, “but trading your health for savings is far more costly.”