NIGERIA: Food Safety Expert Warns Against Random Eating Amid Rising Cancer Cases
As cancer cases continue to rise across Nigeria, a food scientist in Akwa Ibom State, Mrs Idara Emmanuel Okon, has urged Nigerians to avoid consuming unwholesome food and drinks, warning that such habits can significantly increase the risk of developing the disease.
Speaking at the 2026 graduation ceremony of Batch ‘A’ students of IDYJAY Kitchen Culinary School in Uyo, Mrs Okon linked the growing incidence of cancers—including those of the head, lungs, and eyes—to poor dietary choices. She stressed that many of the health challenges reported in hospitals stem directly from what people consume daily.
“I am urging Nigerians and indeed the general public to try as much as possible not to eat food randomly, even water, because what you take in will either make or destroy you,” she said. “Increased incidences of cancer issues… are simply because of what you take into your system. If you eat unhealthy foods or drink unhealthy drinks, you will end up fast forwarding your death by having a whole lot of health issues as a result of destroying your system.”
Mrs Okon, who is also the Managing Director of IDYJAY Kitchen Culinary School, emphasized that maintaining a healthy diet is far more cost-effective than treating illnesses later. “It is not actually costly to eat a healthy food or drink a healthy drink, but it is costly—even more—to be in the hospital to treat yourself of one ailment or the other. So you can save yourself all that by eating and drinking what is healthy,” she added.
She explained that the school’s mission extends beyond training entrepreneurs; it is also committed to producing and serving safe, healthy food for society. “Here we have enough skills that we train our students in a lot of things. We train them on food safety, we train them on food hazards, we train them on food presentations, we train them on food quality and standards so that when they go into the labour market they can independently produce what is healthy for the society.”
Mrs Okon noted that in the culinary field, practical skills outweigh certificates. “In this field, certificates do not really count; it is what you can do on your own when you graduate that counts most because if you go for a job interview, you will be interviewed practically on what you can do,” she said.
Her remarks come amid growing public health concerns in Nigeria, where lifestyle-related diseases, including various forms of cancer, are on the rise. Health experts continue to advocate for improved food safety practices and greater public awareness of the link between diet and disease.
