Nigeria’s food safety agency has declined to confirm whether it routinely tests for cyanide in garri, a widely consumed cassava staple, even as health concerns link residual levels of the toxin to vision problems among millions of citizens.
Christiana Obiazikwor, deputy director of public relations at the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), told Peoples Gazette that the agency’s mandate covers packaged garri products, which must be registered to ensure they are wholesome. However, she could not say whether cyanide forms part of the laboratory parameters checked during registration.
“We have parameters for what they check in the laboratory,” Obiazikwor said. “For every product, there are parameters, and there are tests they run, depending on the product. So I don’t know what parameters they test.”
Nigeria’s NIS 181:2004 Standard for Garri sets a maximum total cyanide content of 20 milligrams per kilogramme. Independent tests commissioned by Peoples Gazette on three samples — two packaged brands and one bought from a local market — found levels well below the limit: 1.44 mg/kg, 2.15 mg/kg and 1.8 mg/kg respectively, according to the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi.
More than 24 million Nigerians experience varying degrees of vision loss, according to the National Blindness and Visual Impairment Survey, with 1.3 to 1.5 million people completely blind. About 84 per cent of blindness cases are considered preventable or treatable.
Some consumers report eye irritation after eating garri. Joshua Oladepo, a university student, said: “Unless I’m at my lowest, I won’t drink garri.” He linked the food to itchy eyes. Journalist Ahmed Oluwasanjo described blurred vision after prolonged daily consumption that improved after he stopped.
Health experts note that proper fermentation, dewatering and roasting can remove most cyanogenic compounds naturally present in cassava. Inadequate processing, however, may leave residual cyanide capable of damaging the optic nerve, particularly when garri forms a large part of an unbalanced diet.
With 141 million Nigerians estimated to live in poverty, according to World Bank figures for 2026, many households and students continue to rely on the affordable staple.
