Consumers have been warned to be wary of eating meat from chicken that have been grown with antibiotics to hasten their maturity.
William Kariuki who is the head of poultry department at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (Kari) Juja branch, told journalists on Tuesday that some unscrupulous farmers were employing underhand tactics in order to satisfy the rising demand for chicken meat.
Kariuki said consumers are being exposed to various forms of hazardous chemicals. He said concerns have been raised over some farmers using drugs to hasten the maturity of their poultry.
"People must be made aware of the quality of chicken that they are taking because some farmers are giving their hens huge amounts of antibiotics to speed up their growth," said Kariuki.
He said that commercialisation of hen farming and increased demand for white meat had led to decreased quality of chicken meat in the last decade.
"This is the reason why Kari developed kienyenji chickens that mature faster in order to eliminate the need for farmers to use drugs to speed up their maturity," he said.