Cowbell, Peak milk, Coca-Cola, medicines and more: What NAFDAC said about the ‘fake products’ list

• The viral list combines NAFDAC alerts and enforcement actions from different years.

• Some products were counterfeit or falsified, while others were recalled, unregistered or substandard.

• NAFDAC did not issue one new alert declaring every brand on the viral list fake.

• Consumers should check specific products, batches and NAFDAC registration details before drawing conclusions.

A viral post claiming that the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has released a long list of fake products in Nigeria is spreading online, with screenshots naming everything from Cowbell and Peak Milk to Coca-Cola, rice brands, medicines, cosmetics and even broad food categories such as palm oil, honey, fish and meat.

The list has prompted concern among Nigerians, with many social media users interpreting the names as a fresh warning from NAFDAC that the products and brands themselves are fake.

But a review of NAFDAC’s official recalls, safety alerts, blacklists and other regulatory notices shows that the viral list does not represent one new, consolidated NAFDAC publication declaring all the named products fake.

Instead, the list brings together products that have appeared in different NAFDAC actions over several years, often under very different circumstances.

Some were confirmed counterfeit or falsified products. Others were recalled because of quality or safety concerns. Some were unregistered products, while others were specific counterfeit versions of genuine brands.

In several cases, NAFDAC’s warning was also limited to a particular batch, size, variant, packaging or geographical market.

That distinction is important because saying “NAFDAC listed Peak Milk as fake”, for example, gives a very different impression from saying NAFDAC discovered counterfeit versions of Peak Milk being produced and sold by criminals.

NAFDAC’s own archive describes its notices as covering recalls, safety alerts, blacklists and other safety communications. The agency separately identifies regulatory actions involving counterfeit, falsified, unregistered and substandard products.

So, what exactly is on the viral list, and what did NAFDAC actually say?

In August 2025, NAFDAC issued an alert over counterfeit Cowbell “Our Milk” 12g sachets circulating in Nigeria.

The agency said the counterfeit product was imitating Cowbell packaging but was not manufactured or distributed by Promasidor Nigeria Ltd.

NAFDAC also noted that Promasidor had stopped producing the “Our Milk” variant in September 2023 and replaced it with Cowbell “Our Creamy Goodness”.

So, NAFDAC did not declare Cowbell products generally fake. The warning concerned counterfeit sachets carrying the Cowbell branding.

These names also have a genuine NAFDAC enforcement history.

During an operation at Aba’s Cemetery Market in 2025, NAFDAC shut down facilities where counterfeit and adulterated beverages were being produced.

The agency found products bearing the names of popular brands including Coca-Cola, Fanta, Schweppes, Lacasera and Sprite, as well as Hollandia Yoghurt, Super Commando Energy, Feyrouz and Amstel Malta.

It also found counterfeit versions of Peak Sachet Milk, Cowbell Sachet Milk, Peak Chocolate Drink, Miksi Sachet Milk, Cadbury Chocolate Drink and Ovaltine.

NAFDAC said the products were produced under unhygienic conditions using cloned packaging and materials belonging to legitimate brands.

In March 2025, NAFDAC seized more than 120 bags of counterfeit rice in Rivers State.

Officials found empty fake Big Bull bags and packaging bearing names including Cap Rice, Stallion Rice, Tomato Rice and Mama Pride.

The agency said rice was being re-bagged using questionable sources and sold in packaging designed to resemble established brands.

The enforcement action concerned counterfeit packaging and re-bagging operations.

NAFDAC’s August 2025 alert on Postinor-2 concerned specific falsified batches of the emergency contraceptive.

The agency identified Type 1 and Type 2 falsified products and said the affected batches had packaging differences and verification-sticker irregularities. The authorised marketing company also confirmed that it had not imported the affected batches.

Several medicines on the list genuinely appeared in NAFDAC alerts.

In March 2025, NAFDAC warned about counterfeit Noristerat Injection 200mg. It also issued an alert on falsified Cikatem carrying a falsified NAFDAC registration number.

In April 2025, the agency warned about counterfeit Aflotin 20/120 tablets.

These are genuine counterfeit/falsified-product alerts. However, they concerned the affected products circulating in the market, not a declaration that every legitimate version of the medicines is fake.

Not every medicine on the viral list was identified as counterfeit.

NAFDAC recalled Amoxivue 500mg in 2025 after testing found significantly low levels of its active pharmaceutical ingredient.

Juhel Folic Acid Tablets were also recalled after being classified as substandard, while Regpara 25mg appeared in a recall over a quality concern involving an impurity.

These are recalls or quality-related regulatory actions, not simply counterfeit alerts. That distinction is important because a substandard or recalled medicine should not automatically be described as a fake product.

NAFDAC’s 2024 alert on ZACEF-TZ Injection is another example of how the viral list flattens different categories into one.

The agency warned about an unregistered ZACEF-TZ Injection carrying a falsified NAFDAC registration number and bearing similarities to the registered EXACEF-TZ.

OXYCONTIN 80mg is particularly misleading when removed from its original context.

NAFDAC’s 2025 alert concerned a falsified batch detected in the unregulated market in Switzerland as part of an international safety alert.

It was not a declaration that OXYCONTIN sold in Nigeria is generally fake.

Some familiar consumer products on the viral list appeared in NAFDAC recall or safety notices. Dove Beauty Cream Bar was subject to a 2024 recall over a safety concern involving BMHCA.

NAFDAC also issued an alert on the recall of Nivea Roll-On Deodorant in 2024 following a safety concern raised through the European rapid-alert system.

Kinder Surprise 20g and 20g x3 appeared in a 2022 recall involving Ferrero.

NAFDAC’s 2022 alert concerned adulterated lots of Japata Alcoholic Bitters.

That is another important distinction: the agency identified adulterated lots, rather than declaring every Japata product in circulation fake.

This is where the viral list becomes particularly misleading. NAFDAC has investigated and seized adulterated or unsafe food products, but it has not simply declared entire categories such as palm oil, honey, fish, chicken, meat or yoghurt “fake”.

In September 2026, NAFDAC specifically rejected social media claims about allegedly fake or adulterated yoghurt, palm oil, fish, chicken, water and beverages, stressing that such claims require proper investigation and scientific testing before a product can be declared unsafe.

The agency’s position reinforces the need to distinguish a suspected product, a complaint, a confirmed counterfeit and a recalled product.

The same principle applies to cosmetics and other products on the viral list. Some, including Fair Child Soap, Placentyne Hair Lotion and certain Dove products, have appeared in individual NAFDAC alerts, but the circumstances and reasons for regulatory action differ from one product to another.

There is genuine NAFDAC information behind many of the names. The agency has indeed warned about counterfeit versions of popular medicines, food, drinks and cosmetics, recalled specific products, identified unregistered medicines and taken enforcement action against people producing or distributing fake goods.

But Pulse found no evidence of one new NAFDAC release declaring everything in the viral screenshots fake.

Instead, the list appears to combine regulatory actions from different years and remove the context that explains what happened in each case.

The viral list, therefore, contains real information presented in a misleading way. For consumers, the safest approach is to check the specific product, variant, batch number, packaging and NAFDAC registration details against the agency’s official alerts rather than assuming that every brand named in the viral post has been declared fake.