Serious concerns have been raised over the safety of popular street foods consumed daily by thousands of urban residents in Kampala and Wakiso, following the release of shocking findings from a joint study by Makerere University and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN).
The concerns were highlighted during a multi-stakeholder dialogue on promoting food safety, organised by the Ministry of Health with support from CASCADE, bringing together academia, policymakers, the media, women-led organisations (WLOs) and development partners. The dialogue was convened to examine emerging food safety risks and explore coordinated responses.
Responding to a presentation by Professor Archileo Kaaya, a food safety researcher at Makerere University, GAIN Uganda Country Director Damali Ssali warned that widespread reuse of cooking oil by street food vendors is quietly putting the country’s most productive population at risk.
The survey, which covered 150 vendors in Kampala and Wakiso, examined commonly consumed foods such as Rolex, chips, fried chicken, fish and samosas.
According to the findings, nearly 90 percent of the cooking oil used to prepare these foods was found to be unsafe due to repeated reuse, leading to the formation of toxic compounds.
Ssali said while street foods remain cheap, accessible and convenient for the urban working population, the danger lies in how they are prepared.
“The food itself is not unsafe, but it becomes unsafe because of the oil in which it is cooked,” she said, urging consumers to be cautious, especially when vendors use visibly dark or blackened oil.
Professor Kaaya’s presentation revealed that prolonged reuse of oil degrades its quality, reducing its smoke point and forcing some vendors to resort to even more dangerous practices, including mixing cooking oil with transformer oil to prolong its usability.
The study also found high levels of contamination in other commonly consumed foods, including raw milk and fresh fish, largely due to poor hygiene and handling practices.
Ssali warned that the health effects of consuming food fried in degraded oil may not be immediate but could overwhelm the health system in the coming years. “If we continue eating these foods, in five to six years Mulago will be full of sick people,” she cautioned, noting that the affected group is largely young, economically productive Ugandans.
She linked food safety directly to Uganda’s long-term development ambitions, arguing that a sick workforce threatens the country’s goal of achieving rapid economic growth.
“Human beings are the most important asset of any country. Oil and gas mean nothing if the population is sick,” she said.
Calling for a multi-sector response, Ssali urged greater consumer awareness, better regulation of school canteens, and collaboration between government agencies, vendors and the private sector.
She stressed that enforcement alone would not work and that informed consumers could drive safer practices by demanding better-quality food.
“Food safety must come first,” Ssali said, “because without safe food, there is no health, no productivity and no growth.”