By the roadside along the busy Iju-Ishaga Road in Lagos state, a small kiosk shaded by a fading canopy draws a steady stream of customers. The stall is little more than a wooden table and a cluster of paint buckets arranged for display. From a distance, it looks like any other roadside stop for quick groceries.
A closer look shows the paint buckets are filled with food items such as cornflakes, oats, semolina, and powdered milk, each marked only with a small piece of paper taped to the side to indicate its content.
Behind the counter, the trader, later identified as Iyabo, dips a plastic cup into one of the buckets and scoops out the cornflakes. Two quick measures go into a thin nylon bag, which she twists and ties before handing it to the waiting customer.
‘Two cups, that is enough for breakfast tomorrow,’ the buyer says softly.
For many of the buyers gathered around the stall, it is simply a cheaper way to put food on the table in difficult times.
However, cornflakes, oats, tea, and powdered milk are not produced unbranded in Nigeria. They are food items normally sold in sealed cartons, sachets, and tins, stamped with brand names, batch numbers, production dates, and expiry labels meant to guide and protect consumers.
But in Ishaga, like in many markets, the labels and boxes have been removed. What remains are open buckets and plastic cups used to sell food items whose origins are no longer clear.
Looking for cheaper food items
Several kilometres away in the crowded Ile-epo market, 42-year-old Ibrahim Musa wove through a row of stalls stacked with nylon bags of white grains and powdered foods. He paused at one where semolina and macaroni were being measured into small plastic bowls.
‘For N3,000, give me a ‘paint’ of that,’ he said, pointing at a sack of semolina.
The trader scooped from the plastic, poured it into a nylon bag, tied it tight, and handed it over. Like the cornflakes in Ishaga, the product had no name, no label, and no clue of its origin.
Musa later told our correspondent that he buys from stalls like this almost every week because it stretches his food budget.
He stated, ‘Things are hard now, and we have to work with a budget. In the supermarket, the same size of semolina costs almost triple.’
What Musa and other buyers never stop to ask, is how these foods ended up in open sacks and paint buckets, far from the safety of their original packaging.
Stripped identity
An investigation by BusinessDay into the supply chain revealed that many of the food items sold in this form once carried popular brand identities before their packaging was stripped away.
It was gathered that once these products are removed from their original branded packaging, they are sold in bulk to middlemen who repackage them into sacks, buckets, and nylon bags before distributing them to traders in open markets.
From Ishaga to Agege, Mile 12, and other markets across Lagos, this practice has quietly grown into a thriving underground trade, supplying thousands of households in search of cheaper alternatives.
It was discovered that food items, such as cornflakes, oats, semolina, powdered milk, tea, and macaroni, are typically produced under tightly controlled conditions by manufacturers and released to the market in sealed cartons, sachets, or tins carrying brand names, batch numbers, manufacturing dates, and expiry information. This fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) market was valued at $25 billion (N34 trillion) in 2025. Key segments include staples like rice, vegetable oil, and noodles.
In Nigeria, food manufacturers are required to comply with strict packaging and labelling rules enforced by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), which mandates that packaged food must clearly display production details, ingredient lists, and expiry dates before they are released for sale.
According to the agency’s guidelines on food labelling, these details ensure that products can be traced in the event of contamination, spoilage, or safety concerns.
But BusinessDay Investigations found that products scooped daily into cups and plastic in Ishaga, Ile-epo, Agege and other markets no longer carry these identifiers. Instead, they appear in an entirely different form.
During visits to several markets in Lagos, this reporter observed traders selling these products from open sacks stacked behind their stalls.
Some of the plastics used for display had small handwritten labels like ‘Cornflakes’, ‘Oat’, or ‘Milk’, while in other cases, empty plastic cans bore improvised labels such as ‘Tea’ or ‘Cornflakes’.
Market traders told our correspondent that they usually buy these products in bulk from distributors who have already removed them from their original packaging.
‘They bring it in sacks, the cornflakes, oats. We buy the sack and then measure it for customers,’ said Solomon at the Agege market.
At the Ile-epo market, another trader explained that the goods often arrive through middlemen who supply large consignments.
‘They come with a truck and deliver it to many people here. If you want cornflakes, they bring a sack. If you want milk, they bring that,’ she added.
From factory floor to market stall
BusinessDay’s investigation traced how stripped and repackaged food products move through a largely unregulated system that begins in factories and ends with consumers.
As part of this investigation, our correspondent was introduced to a middleman who only identified himself as Chinedu, operating within the trade, who offered to facilitate entry into the business and explained how the system worked.
Chinedu said a minimum of N10 million was required to participate, describing it as the baseline capital needed to connect with manufacturing companies and bid for what he termed ‘disposable goods.’
According to him, these goods are typically sold off at significantly reduced prices through informal bidding arrangements, where interested buyers are invited to compete for bulk quantities.
‘You will need at least N10 million to start. That is what it takes to link you up with the companies. They call us to bid, and whoever pays immediately takes the goods,’ he said
He explained that the items available through this process are not limited to food, but include anything classified as ‘disposable’ by manufacturing firms, ranging from plastics and metals to processed food products.
For food items, he said the products usually fall into specific categories of those nearing expiry, those that have reached their ‘best before’ dates, or those that failed internal quality checks due to packaging defects, labelling errors, or minor inconsistencies.
Under standard regulatory expectations, such products are meant to be properly disposed of or redirected in line with safety guidelines.
However, Chinedu indicated that, in practice, they are often sold off in bulk to buyers who then determine how to repurpose them.
Another middleman, popularly called Kazeem, who was introduced to our correspondent by a trader at the Ile-Epo market, said the ‘disposable’ goods were originally sold for repurposing to animal feed and not for human consumption.
However, he added that many saw a business opportunity in the sale at markets because some of the items are nearly-expired and not totally expired yet.
Multiple sources across the supply chain, including traders, distributors, and individuals familiar with factory operations, corroborated this account, describing a loosely regulated system through which these products move from factories into open markets.
Kazeem further explained that manufacturers routinely remove substandard or near-expiry goods from official distribution channels following internal quality assessments.
He added that rather than being destroyed, these items are often sold directly to bulk buyers at factory premises, sometimes under classifications such as surplus or waste.
‘Once it is acquired, the buyer will remove them from the original packaging and transfer them into industrial sacks before leaving the factory premises,’ he said.
When asked how it was possible to get the items out of the factories, Kazeem replied that there is always an ‘internal person’ who will facilitate the movement.
At each stage of this process, traceability is effectively lost, making it difficult for consumers to verify the food’s origin, quality, or safety.
Chinedu told BusinessDay Investigations that bulk buyers typically repurpose rejected or damaged food in two major ways.
According to him, one route is for human consumption, where the original packaging is discarded, and the products are transferred into sacks or containers before being sold wholesale to market traders.
He added that the second route is through the livestock feed market, where such items are initially sold as inputs for poultry or animal feed.
However, he said it was more lucrative to sell for human consumption rather than for livestock, noting that this was how those meant for livestock often make their way back into the human food chain.
‘Only a small portion actually goes to livestock. Much of what begins as factory waste ends up on consumers’ plates,’ Chinedu said.
Billions in illegal trade
BusinessDay Investigations discovered that what sustains this underground trade is the wide price gap between branded and unbranded products.
Our correspondent found that many customers are drawn to these markets because the same items cost roughly half of what they would pay in supermarkets.
For instance, a 450-gram box of cornflakes retails for about N7,600 in Lagos supermarkets, yet traders sell the equivalent quantity from cups for N3,000 to N3,500. A tin of powdered milk or a cocoa drink that costs N12,000 in stores can go for N4,500 to N5,000 in the unbranded markets. Imported oats and semolina show similar savings, often 50 percent or more.
It was gathered that this dramatic difference has created a lucrative informal market.
One trader in Mile 12 explained, ‘It is cheaper, that is why people buy it. Inside the supermarket, the branded one might be N10,000 or N12,000. Here, it is N5,000, and people will take it.’
Further findings show that a single sack of repackaged cereal or powdered drink can be divided into hundreds of portions, each sold at a margin that benefits wholesalers and traders while still undercutting supermarket prices.
This paper estimates that when multiplied across dozens of markets and thousands of daily buyers, the informal trade moves into billions every year, as this informal trade is found in almost every part of the country.
NAFDAC looks away despite violation
Across markets in Lagos, stripped and unbranded food products are openly displayed and sold in paint buckets, sacks, and plastic containers, available in nearly every major trading hub visited during this investigation.
Despite their visibility and widespread circulation, there is no evidence of enforcement action.
NAFDAC maintains strict guidelines requiring all packaged foods to carry clear labelling, including product names, batch numbers, manufacturing and expiry dates, and traceable manufacturer details. But, in the markets visited by our correspondent, none of the products met these requirements.
BusinessDay observed that these unlabelled goods continue to move freely through the food system, with no traceability or safety assurance, even though the agency’s mandate covers the regulation and control of food manufacture, importation, distribution, and sale.
Bulk buyers and traders take advantage of this apparent gap in enforcement by purchasing rejected or near-expiry products and reintroducing them into the human food chain, despite public health guidelines that require unsafe or substandard food to be destroyed.
While NAFDAC has, in the past, carried out high-profile enforcement actions, including the destruction of substandard goods and public warnings against unbranded food items, such efforts appear to have had limited impact on the ground.
BusinessDay Investigation discovered that traders continue to sell repackaged food openly, with little interference.
Hidden risks in plain sight
BusinessDay Investigations found that not all stripped and repackaged foods get to the retail sellers in good condition.
Sellers reported visible signs of spoilage, clumping, unusual textures, and physical deterioration rarely seen in properly packaged products.
One seller in Oyingbo market said powdered tea can harden when exposed to moisture or sometimes when ‘sales is slow’.
‘When the product gets wet even a little, the tea becomes like cement and it also happens when the product has stayed long,’ he said.
A powdered milk trader added that some sacks solidify so much that portions have to be broken apart manually.
He explained, ‘Sometimes it is like touching wet sand. Even dry foods such as macaroni can arrive soft, brittle, or otherwise damaged if not properly stored, according to multiple traders.
It was gathered that retailers rely on visual and sensory cues, unusual smells, discoloured flakes, insects, or foods that behave oddly during cooking to judge quality.
‘We notice some things that tell us something might be wrong. And that is one of the reasons we sell it less,’ said one Agege trader.
Public health experts warned that affordability cannot replace safety.
Studies show that expired or improperly stored food can cause gastrointestinal illness, with moisture or heat in powdered products increasing microbial risks.
A 2021 WHO report estimated 600 million people worldwide fall ill from contaminated food each year, with low- and middle-income countries most affected.
Amina Suleiman, a nutrition and food safety specialist, explained that removing protective packaging exposes foods to moisture, heat, pests, and contamination, which can compromise safety and nutrition.
She added that even if powdered milk clumps or cereal looks normal, microbial risks remain, and repeated consumption can have long-term effects, particularly for children and vulnerable individuals.
The clinical nutritionist confirmed that domestic cases of food poisoning are common and often underreported.
‘Many think it is just a stomach upset, but repeated exposure to contaminated or degraded foods, especially without expiry dates, increases the likelihood of nausea, diarrhoea, dehydration, and hospitalisation,’ she noted.
BusinessDay Investigations made repeated attempts to get a reaction from NAFDAC concerning the findings of this investigation has proved abortive.
On three occasions, our correspondent reached out to the agency’s Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, but he was unreachable via phone calls, and he did not respond to text messages sent to him as of the time of filing this report.