FG warns street food vendors using transformer oil to cook.
The Federal Government will be prosecuting street food vendors using PolyChlorinated Biphenyl (PCBs), widely known as transformer oil, to cook.
Transformer oil to cook?
Yes, a Consultant to the Federal Ministry of Environment, Prof. Babajide Alloy, made the shocking disclosure on Tuesday while speaking with newsmen during a workshop in Calabar, Cross River State. According to Alloy, the consumption of food prepared from the chemical substance will expose the public to various kinds of ailments, including cancers of the lungs, heart, kidney, and liver diseases.
Where do they get it from?
According to the consultant, the oil is all over the place in the country, including dump sites and in old National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) facilities. Alloy said a survey by the ministry found that the oil was currently being used in making food like Akara (bean cake). “Some food vendors now mix PCBs with groundnut oil to fry Akara and sell to the general public”, he said at the workshop on the application of PCBs regulations and guidelines for Environmentally Sound Management (ESM) of PCBs.
