The toxic stew: Street food vendors take to ‘esa’ as cost of whole tomatoes rise

By Elizabeth Adegbesan

Before, in most cities  around the country, there were usually heavy, humid air around the areas with smells of rice, fried plantains and rich aromatic tomato stew.

But Economy&Lifestyle discovered lately, a sharp, sour undertone cuts through the air. At  popular roadside canteens,  large aluminum pots bubble violently over an open gas flame. 

Food vendors stir the deep-red mixture with a long wooden paddle. 

To the untrained eye, it is Nigeria’s famous jollof or white rice sauce. 

But hidden beneath the counter are plastic crates filled with leaking, bruised, and mold-covered tomatoes.

In local Nigerian markets, these damaged fruits are called Esa, Baza, or “rejects.” 

Until recently, they were discarded as waste or sold for pennies to the poorest households. 

Today, they have become a hot commodity. 

“If I buy the fresh ones, I will have to sell a plate of rice for N3,000 just to break even.

“Who will pay that? My customers are students and bus drivers. 

“So, we buy the damaged ones, cut out the worst parts, boil them down with plenty of pepper and tin paste to hide the taste, and pray for customers patronage.

“Tomato is now very expensive and I keep wondering why something grown in our country gets this expensive all year round,” Mrs. Sherifat Omo, a food vendor said.

A severe economic crisis, fueled by currency devaluation and the removal of fuel subsidies, has pushed food inflation upward.

 A standard wooden basket of fresh, firm tomatoes that once sold for N35,000 now commands over N160,000. 

For small-scale food vendors who feed millions of working-class Nigerians daily, buying wholesome ingredients means financial ruin.

Economy&Lifestyle discovered that to survive, food vendors are making a dangerous compromise. 

At tomato markets, the sorting sections have become frantic battlegrounds. 

Every morning, restaurant owners and street food sellers crowd around traders to bid on crates of squashed, fermenting tomatoes. 

These rejects cost less than one-fifth of the price of fresh produce. Vendors take them home, slice off the visibly fuzzy mold, and boil the rest down into a thick paste. 

To mask the sour, fermented smell, they load the pots with heavy amounts of ginger, garlic, locust beans, and cheap artificial seasonings.

A viral video circulating social media platforms recently showed two women bringing rotten tomatoes filled with maggots to a market to blend.

These women were perceived to be food vendors.

Public health experts are sounding the alarm over this growing trend. 

Mr. Matthew Adedeji, a laboratory technician said: “Wholesome-looking parts of a rotten tomato can still contain dangerous microscopic toxins. “Rotten tomatoes are breeding grounds for Aspergillus molds, which produce deadly aflatoxins. 

“These chemical compounds are heat-resistant; they do not die when boiled, fried, or baked. Regular consumption of foods contaminated with aflatoxins causes severe food poisoning, chronic kidney damage, and liver cancer. 

“In such situation, Nigeria is facing a ticking healthcare time bomb when street food becomes increasingly toxic.”

Yet, on the ground, economic survival overrides long-term health warnings. 

Customers who work manual jobs or earn minimum wage cannot afford to pay high prices for lunch. 

If a vendor uses fresh ingredients, a plate of food would cost more than an average laborer earns in a day. 

Vendors feel they are trapped in a corner by a harsh economy, forced to choose between the immediate death of their business or the slow poisoning of their customers.

Mrs. Ruth Daudu, a food vendor said: “My sister, it is not that we are wicked or that we want people to fall sick. 

“It is this country that is turning honest people into monsters just to survive. 

“If I buy fresh tomatoes today, a single plate of food will cost N4,500. Who will buy it from me in this neighborhood? Nobody. “The customers will walk away, my children will starve, and the landlord will throw me out.

“I have no choice but to buy the Esa tomatoes, wash them thoroughly with salt, and use heavy spices to cover the bad taste. 

“We are all just trying not to die of hunger.”

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