The government has formed a task force to investigate claims that some of the brands of maize flour which were being sold in the country contained high levels of aflatoxin. This comes after The Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) banned five brands of maize flour including Dola, Starehe, 210 Two-Ten, Jembe and Kifaru.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri and his trade counterpart Peter Munya informed two parliamentary committees on Wednesday of the formation of the task force whose aim will be to investigate the claims which have raised concerns among Kenyans.
One of the roles of the Ministry of Agriculture is to inspect the quality and safety of products from farmers, but as the CS explained to the committee, some of the farmers were selling their produce directly to millers which made it hard for inspection.
CS Mwangi Kiunjuri. [Source/Twitter/@johnnjenga]
"One of the problems we are facing is that some farmers sell the produce directly to millers as well as to neighbouring countries which compromises controls. All government departments are making efforts to ensure food safety is assured," CS Kiunjuri explained as quoted by The Standard Media.
In the event that the claims of contamination of maize flour are proven to be true, then the Ministries of trade, health, agriculture and The Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) among other departments and agencies, may be forced to provide answers as to how the contaminated products made their way to the market.