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March 03, 2019

Kenya grapples with maize contamination

by Shem Oirere, Freelance journalist

The level of aflatoxin in maize, produced or imported and stored in East Africa, continues to be a cause for concern among the region's consumers and millers, on the back of a weak regulatory framework and uncoordinated approach in tackling the contamination.

Kenya has become the latest country to report new incidents of aflatoxin contamination of maize imported recently, to tackle a famine crisis triggered by prolonged drought in early 2017.
 


The quality of stored cereals in the country has dominated headlines for several months now, as millers and other stakeholders discussed the safety of the maize imported during a four-month duty free import window, that millers were allowed to ramp up their stocks to mitigate effects of the 2017 drought.

Government agencies, led by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), which prepares standards relating to products, measurements, materials and processes, in addition to promoting them at national, regional and international levels, were called into action after thousands of 90kg bags of maize, among the 44 million that had been imported between May and September of 2017, were later found to be discoloured.

A large share of the maize imports came from Uganda, Ethiopia, Zambia, Ukraine, Russia and Mexico, and were sold to the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB), a state-owned firm that promotes commercial trading in grains in Kenya.

KEBS says 256 of the samples collected from maize depots in 37 of the Kenya's 47 counties, were tested at its Nairobi laboratories and found to be unfit for human consumption, because they contained mycotoxins which the World Health Organization describes “toxic compounds that are naturally produced by certain types of fungi and grows on cereals, dried fruits, nuts and spices.” The affected maize is estimated to be worth US $74 million.

“The sampling of the maize was done as per the relevant sampling standard, EAS 900:2017, as agreed in advance in a meeting with the National Cereals and Produce Board,” said Phoebe Gituku, KEBS spokesperson.

Other state agencies involved in the testing the quality of the maize at the NCPB depots include thr Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service, Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organisation and the NCPB itself.

Although the report and recommendations by KEBS have been submitted to the Senate for debate and action, the NCPB has insisted on more tests on the maize samples, to re-confirm the findings before a decision is taken on next course of action, after separate investigations showed the maize was good for human consumption.


Read more HERE.
 

The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.


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