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The short answer
Shelled peanuts and melon seeds (egusi) from Nigeria are on the red list of FDA Import Alert 23-14 for aflatoxin, so shipments can be detained without physical examination. The FDA's action level for aflatoxin in peanuts and foods generally is 20 parts per billion. To get a detained lot released you send the FDA analysis of a representative sample from an accredited (LAAF) laboratory showing it is safe.
Why groundnut and melon seed are treated differently
Aflatoxins are produced by moulds that grow on crops stored warm and damp. The FDA's Import Alert 23-14, last published on 22 June 2026, says mycotoxins are toxic mould by-products that can contaminate food crops, that their occurrence is not entirely avoidable, and that food containing aflatoxins and certain other mycotoxins may be considered adulterated and refused admission.
The alert keeps a red list of products by country. For Nigeria it lists two entries, both for aflatoxins:
| Product on the red list | FDA product code | Listed |
|---|---|---|
| Shelled peanuts (groundnut) | 23 B - - 07 | 1 June 2022 |
| Melon seeds (edible seed) | 23 K - - 05 | 28 March 2022; the entry notes melon seed was first placed on detention on 13 April 2000 |
Ground egusi appears in the alert under Ghana, dated 3 March 2026, not Nigeria. Ogbono does not appear at all. That does not make ogbono safe from testing: the FDA can sample any shipment, and your own supplier checks should cover aflatoxin for any seed or kernel.
What "detention without physical examination" means
For a product on the red list, the FDA can detain each shipment at the port without first sampling it. The burden moves to you. The goods stay held, at the importer's cost, until you show they comply. Shipments do not clear just because the last one did.
How a shipment gets released
- The FDA issues a notice of detention naming the Division Compliance Office handling it.
- You arrange a representative sample to be taken and analysed. Since 1 December 2024, the test must be done by a laboratory accredited under the FDA's Laboratory Accreditation for Analyses of Foods programme (21 CFR 1.1107).
- You submit the results to the Division Compliance Office. The FDA may take its own audit sample before deciding.
- If the lot is shown to be free of aflatoxin at a level that could make it injurious to health, it can be released; if not, it is refused and must be exported or destroyed.
The 20 ppb benchmark
The alert itself does not set a number; it points to the FDA's compliance policy guides. The FDA's action-level guidance lists 20 parts per billion (ppb) for aflatoxin in peanuts and peanut products (CPG 570.375) and in foods generally (CPG 555.400), with the same figure for Brazil nuts and pistachios. The guidance is dated August 2000 and the FDA says levels can change through the Federal Register, so check the current CPG before you rely on it.
Example of the arithmetic: 20 ppb is 20 micrograms of aflatoxin per kilogram of seed. A 25 kg bag at the limit would contain 500 micrograms, half a milligram, in total. That is why results depend so heavily on how the sample is taken: a few mouldy kernels can push a lot over.
Getting off the red list
A grower or shipper can petition to be removed. The alert says the firm must show it has resolved the conditions that caused the violations, so the FDA has confidence future entries will comply, with supporting private laboratory analyses, again from an accredited laboratory, sent to Importalerts2@fda.hhs.gov. The alert does not fix a number of clean shipments; it follows the FDA's Regulatory Procedures Manual, chapter 9-8.
What to agree with your Nigerian supplier
- drying and storage conditions, and sorting out of discoloured or broken kernels before packing;
- a pre-shipment test, so you know the lot's likely result before freight is paid;
- who pays for US testing and storage if the shipment is detained, written into the contract; and
- what happens to a refused lot: re-export, destruction, or credit against the next order.
Peanuts are also one of the nine major food allergens, so labels must declare them. Your hazard analysis under the FSVP rules must address aflatoxin for both products, and the supplier evaluation must take this import alert into account.
Worked example: pricing in the risk
Example: an importer buys 2,000 kg of shelled groundnut at $2.10 a kg, $4,200 in all. Because the product is on the red list, she budgets for one accredited laboratory analysis and two weeks of port storage on every shipment. If the broker quotes $450 for sampling and testing and $300 for storage, her detention budget is $750, which adds about 37.5 cents a kg, or 18%, to the cost of the nuts before duty and freight. Those service prices are illustrations; ask your broker and laboratory for written quotes.
Travellers and small quantities
A traveller with egusi in a suitcase meets CBP, not this alert: you declare it and an agriculture specialist inspects it. Selling it is a different matter, and needs prior notice. See bringing egusi, ogbono and crayfish into the US and options after an FDA refusal.
Where Pryme fits
Detention costs can wipe out a seed shipment's margin, so many importers hold back part of the payment until clearance. A Pryme Business Account holds USD and NGN; you can pay the balance in naira with Swap once the lot is released, and the app shows the rate and the fee before you approve.
Questions people ask
Why is egusi detained by FDA?
Nigerian melon seeds are on the red list of Import Alert 23-14 for aflatoxin, so the FDA can detain them without examination until a laboratory test shows they are safe.
What is the FDA limit for aflatoxin in groundnut?
The FDA's action level for peanuts and peanut products is 20 parts per billion (CPG 570.375), as listed in its action-level guidance.
Who can test a detained shipment?
Since 1 December 2024, a laboratory accredited under the FDA's LAAF programme must perform tests used to support admission.
Is ogbono on the FDA aflatoxin alert?
Ogbono does not appear in Import Alert 23-14 as published on 22 June 2026, but any shipment can still be sampled.
Sources
- FDA: Import Alert 23-14, detention without physical examination of food products due to the presence of mycotoxins (published 22 Jun 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- FDA: Guidance for industry, action levels for poisonous or deleterious substances in human food and animal feed (Aug 2000; page published 1 Oct 2024) · accessed Oct 2026
- eCFR: 21 CFR Part 1, Subpart L, Foreign Supplier Verification Programs for food importers (current text) · accessed Oct 2026
- FDA: Food allergies (content current as of 11 Mar 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
This article is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Products described are provided under the terms on this site and are subject to regulation and eligibility.