Food scientists and industry stakeholders have called for stronger scientific research, consumer education and regulatory coordination as Nigeria grapples with rising rates of diabetes and other diet-related diseases.
The call was made at a two-day conference on “Low- and No-Calorie Sweeteners in Nigeria: The Science and Safety,” organised by the Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFST) in collaboration with the International Sweeteners Association (ISA).
NIFST President, Dr Bola Osinowo, said Nigeria’s growing burden of type 2 diabetes and obesity made it increasingly important to develop strategies that could reduce sugar consumption without compromising food safety, product quality or consumer choice.
Osinowo said available clinical data suggested that between six million and 11.2 million Nigerian adults were living with diabetes, creating a significant financial burden for households and the healthcare system.
He estimated that an average person living with diabetes could spend between N20,000 and more than N150,000 each month on insulin, blood-glucose monitoring and clinical care. The situation, he added, was worsened by a shortage of specialists, with fewer than 200 physician endocrinologists practising in Nigeria.
“We cannot discuss the future of food formulation in Nigeria without addressing our current national public health and economic realities,” Osinowo said.
As manufacturers increasingly explore low- and no-calorie sweeteners (LNCS) as alternatives to sugar, the stakeholders said Nigeria needed a stronger scientific and regulatory framework to support responsible product reformulation.
Osinowo noted that approved LNCS had undergone extensive safety evaluations by international bodies, including the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). He also pointed to NAFDAC’s Food Additives Regulations 2021 and Non-Nutritive Sweeteners in Food Products Regulations 2021 as part of Nigeria’s existing regulatory framework.
However, participants identified gaps in consumer knowledge, local dietary data and technical expertise as obstacles to effective sugar reduction.
Research by Nigerian institutions, they said, showed that although awareness of sweeteners was as high as 73.5 per cent among some groups, between 67 and 70.8 per cent of respondents lacked adequate functional knowledge of their safety and health implications.
The conference also cited findings from Calabar Municipality indicating that as many as 58.1 per cent of young adults frequently consumed carbonated drinks sweetened with aspartame.
Participants said Nigeria lacked a coordinated national dietary database capable of tracking sweetener consumption and estimating exposure among different population groups. They therefore called for longitudinal dietary surveys covering all six geopolitical zones.
The stakeholders also highlighted challenges created by the 10 per cent Sugar-Sweetened Beverages tax, equivalent to N10 per litre, which they said had encouraged manufacturers to reformulate products while introducing technical difficulties.
They explained that replacing sugar involves more than maintaining sweetness, as manufacturers must also preserve texture, viscosity, mouthfeel, sensory qualities and shelf stability, particularly under Nigeria’s hot and humid storage conditions.
The conference consequently recommended stronger collaboration between manufacturers, universities and research institutions to test sweetener combinations and reformulated products under local conditions.
Participants further called for coordinated public-awareness campaigns, alignment of Nigerian food-additive standards with Codex Alimentarius and current international safety assessments, specialised reformulation training for industry research teams and simplified safety information for healthcare and nutrition professionals.
They resolved that NIFST Academy and ISA should begin capacity-building programmes before the end of 2026, while relevant government agencies should work towards improved dietary monitoring and regulatory alignment.
