Allen Lunkusse had bought milk from the same dairy shop in Lungujja for a month without suspecting anything was wrong. Like many parents, she trusted that what she was buying was safe for her family, including her six-month-old baby. “I had been buying milk from the seller for a month, and we had never had a problem as a family,” she recalled. Then her baby became ill. “The baby started getting sick all of a sudden,” Lunkusse said. “We later found out that the seller was adding cassava and sometimes baking powder to the milk.” Although the account does not establish whether the added substances caused the illness, it illustrates a troubling problem facing Ugandan consumers: food can be altered before it reaches the market, often without buyers knowing. Milk, groundnut paste, honey and cooking oil are among products that have attracted concerns over adulteration, a practice in which substances are added or products altered in ways that compromise their authenticity or quality, sometimes to increase profits. The danger is that consumers may pay for one product while unknowingly receiving something different. Food safety concerns extend beyond deliberate adulteration. In 2023, more than 150 students at Nakanyonyo Secondary School in Mukono developed vomiting and diarrhoea after eating food the previous night. Police findings attributed the incident to contamination rather than deliberate poisoning. The distinction is important because unsafe food can result from poor handling and storage as well as deliberate deception. Agnes Kirabo, executive director of Food Rights Alliance, says food adulteration is particularly difficult to confront because consumers often cannot detect it by looking at a product. “Adulterated products are sold to unsuspecting consumers every day, which puts the lives of Ugandans at risk of contracting various diseases. These are deliberate acts done for gain by traders targeting buyers who cannot see what has been done to their food,” she said. KAMPALA’S GROUNDNUT PASTE Evidence of the problem emerged from a 2025 Makerere University study examining groundnut powder and paste sold in Kampala’s open markets. The research, conducted by W. Mukama, collected 100 samples from the city’s five divisions and examined them using infrared spectroscopy, a technique that can help identify substances by analyzing how they interact with infrared light. Only 25 samples were classified as authentic, while 45 contained other substances. The remaining 30 could not be classified, possibly because they contained complex mixtures. In other words, researchers positively identified adulteration in 45 of the 100 samples tested, while another 30 remained uncertain.The study identified cassava flour in 13 per cent of samples, millet flour in 12 per cent, bean powder in 9 per cent, jackfruit seed powder in 7 per cent, and maize flour in 4 per cent. These ingredients may be cheaper than groundnuts, creating an incentive for dishonest traders to increase the volume of their products while reducing costs. The immediate concern is deception: paying for groundnut paste without knowing that other ingredients have been added. The findings also raised questions about packaging. The manuscript reports that 43 per cent of unpackaged samples and 2 per cent of packaged samples were adulterated, although the underlying sample sizes require clarification. The research cannot establish the national prevalence of adulteration because it examined a limited sample of groundnut products in Kampala. Nevertheless, it provides evidence that some consumers are buying products whose contents differ from what they expect. Other incidents point to similar concerns. Earlier in 2026, Busia’s district entomology officer reported laboratory findings indicating that some honey sold by hawkers contained up to 60 per cent molasses. In 2017, the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) seized more than 2,000 litres of adulterated cooking oil in Bugiri district. The oil had reportedly been siphoned from tankers transporting crude oil intended for further processing. Such cases suggest that food adulteration is not confined to one product or market. A PROBLEM UGANDA HAS NOT FULLY MEASURED Despite these incidents, Uganda lacks a national survey establishing the extent of food adulteration. Kirabo says this makes it difficult to determine how widespread the problem is, which products are most affected and where enforcement should be concentrated. “What exists is a patchwork of university studies, regulator seizures, audit reports, press coverage and briefs from civil society,” she said. She argues that authorities must distinguish deliberate fraud from food safety failures caused by inadequate knowledge or poor storage practices. Maize, for example, can develop mould when stored before it has dried properly. Such grain may subsequently enter the market, creating health risks even where the farmer did not deliberately adulterate it. “A farmer who dries grain badly needs training, drying sheets and a market that pays for safe grain,” Kirabo said. Deliberate adulteration, however, requires a different response. “A trader who knowingly sells grain that has failed a test, or who mixes cassava flour into groundnut paste, needs to be investigated,” she said. Her argument is that enforcement should target intentional wrongdoing without overlooking the practical support farmers and traders need to handle food safely. Kirabo also questions whether Uganda’s legal framework adequately addresses modern food production and distribution. “The Food and Drugs Act dates from 1959, that is more than 60 years old and out of step with how food is now produced and sold,” she said. The wider consequences of unsafe food can be substantial. According to global estimates cited in a 2018 World Bank report, foodborne diseases caused approximately 600 million illnesses and 420,000 premature deaths in 2010, with particularly heavy burdens relative to population in South Asia, Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The World Bank also estimates that unsafe food costs low- and middle-income economies about US$110 billion annually through lost productivity and medical expenses. These are global and international estimates, not measurements of Uganda’s adulteration problem. They nevertheless illustrate why food safety is an economic concern as well as a publichealth issue. WHY REGULATORS STRUGGLE TO KEEP UP At UNBS, officials acknowledge that monitoring the country’s food market remains difficult. Eng Richard Ebong, a senior standards officer, said the bureau inspects and certifies locally manufactured and packaged food products, including assessing production facilities. But limited staffing makes it difficult to monitor all products circulating in the country. “UNBS still have about 600 staff and you would expect us to be almost an equal number like Revenue Authority and should be everywhere where Revenue Authority is and operate the same number of hours, 24-7, but when you have few people you cannot have all of them,” Ebong said. The comparison highlights the enforcement challenge: food products move through numerous markets and trading points, while the agency responsible for standards cannot maintain a presence everywhere. Ebong also raised concerns about traders who acquire empty bags and packaging machines and repackage food without following proper procedures. Such practices can make it harder for consumers and regulators to establish where products originated and whether they meet required standards. Ground nut paste is among the cited foodsHe said UNBS has a surveillance department supported by police officers and the Standards and Utilities Court. The department conducts market inspections and investigates complaints using targeted, risk-based approaches. “When we hear any complaint, then they will go and do targeted risk-based inspection to go for that particular,” he said. However, UNBS does not directly regulate every category of food business. Roadside food vendors, street food sellers and other informal food businesses fall under the Public Health Act, with inspections conducted by local government health authorities. “That is covered under the Public Health Act, which is done by the health inspectors in the local authorities,” Ebong said. UNBS provides standards that local authorities can use when conducting inspections. Health inspectors are expected to assess food preparation areas and the health of food handlers before issuing operating licenses.The division of responsibilities means that protecting consumers depends on coordination between national regulators and local authorities.The post The hidden poison in Uganda’s food appeared first on The Observer Media Ltd.