Assessing food safety practices and challenges in Nigerian food systems: a review of current trends and future directions

This review critically examines food safety practices and emerging challenges across Nigerian food systems, emphasizing their implications for public health, trade, and national development. Synthesizing evidence from peer-reviewed articles, policy documents, and international reports, the study highlights biological, chemical, and physical hazards as the dominant contributors to Nigeria’s high burden of foodborne illnesses. Key systemic drivers include inadequate infrastructure, weak regulatory enforcement, and widespread unsafe practices, particularly within the informal food sector. Although government agencies such as the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), the National Agency for Food, Drug, Administration and Control (NAFDAC), and the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) provide regulatory oversight, their impact is constrained by limited resources, fragmented mandates, and inconsistent compliance. The review further presents a SWOT analysis of Nigeria’s regulatory framework and compares existing practices with international food safety standards. The economic burden spanning healthcare costs, productivity losses, and trade disruptions is still significant yet under-quantified. Proposed interventions emphasize risk-based regulation, improved cold-chain and market infrastructure, enhanced food handler training, and technological innovations for traceability and surveillance. Aligning with the 2025 World Food Safety Day theme, the review underscores the need for a proactive, coordinated, and evidence-driven food safety governance system. The findings provide actionable insights for policymakers, regulators, and stakeholders working to strengthen Nigeria’s food safety resilience and safeguard public health.