There are fake products in circulation, but blended garlic turned green isn’t one of them

• Ruth Kadiri calls out NAFDAC over its complacency in controlling the level of fake products in circulation.

• She shares a personal experience of how a garlic she blended turned blue after a while

• Research and experts say that the change in colour is absolutely normal and does not render such vegetables unsafe for consumption.

With the sudden surge in complaints about fake foods and drugs in circulation and the inefficiency of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in curbing it, Nigerians have turned to personal agencies to monitor consumables.

A slight change in food texture or a sudden change of thickness of a liquid beverage gets the consumer suspicious.

In that spirit, popular Nollywood actress Ruth Kadiri raised a concern about the spike in fake consumables. In a video posted on her Instagram page, she claimed the rifeness of these products has increased cases of kidney problems in kids.

“Dear Nigerians, I’m speaking to you today with a heavy heart and deep concern about the circulation of fake products in our country. Every day, people buy food, drinks, medicine, cosmetics, and household products believing that they are safe, but sadly, some are poorly produced, contaminated, harmful and mostly fake. This is not just a business problem; it’s a threat to human life. Imagine little children battling kidney failure,” she said.

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Kadiri also shared her personal experience about garlic. She said she became concerned after buying and blending, only to later find that it had changed colour.

“I bought garlic, blended it, went upstairs and came back, my garlic had turned green,” she said.

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No. A change in colour doesn't mean the garlic is spoilt or fake. Normally, when garlic is whole, some of its natural chemicals are kept separate inside its cells. One of them is alliin, while an enzyme called alliinase is kept apart from it.

When you cut, crush or blend the garlic, its cells break open and these chemicals mix. This triggers a reaction that produces allicin, the compound responsible for garlic’s strong smell and taste.

Garlic also contains natural sulfur compounds and pigments. When these react under certain conditions, particularly in an acidic environment, they can cause the garlic to turn blue, blue-green or green.

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In answering to the question of garlic turning blue or blue-green, Penn State Extension, an educational network tied to the Pennsylvania State University College of Agricultural Sciences, says:

“Extension educators often receive questions from preservers about the safety of garlic that has changed color. In response, Georgia Cooperative Extension says that this change in color does not mean the garlic has spoiled.

"This reaction," they say, "may be due to iron, tin, or aluminum in your cooking pot, water, or water pipes reacting with the pigments in the garlic. Or, the garlic may naturally have more blueish pigment that is more evident after pickling." Regardless, they say, the pickled vegetables (including the garlic) are safe to eat.”

In another article where the network responds to the question of the safety of pigmented garlic, it says:

“Yes, the blue or green color is caused by an enzymatic reaction and is perfectly harmless.

Garlic contains naturally occurring sulfur compounds that, under acidic conditions, react with trace amounts of copper to form copper sulfate, a blue or blue-green compound.

If this is a problem, first blanch the garlic in boiling water for about 10 seconds to inactivate the enzymes that cause the color change.”

By Akinjide Adebowale