Mombasa residents have been warned against eating red meat until samples collected by Mombasa County health inspectors are examined.
This is after an expose by NTV revealed that Kenyans were consuming meat laced with dangerous chemicals to prolong the shelf life of the meat.
The samples collected on Monday are aimed at testing if businesspersons are using sulphur metabisulphite.
Led by Public Health Chief Officer Aisha Abubakar, the team visited several meat joints and supermarkets to ascertain the safety of the meat. She stated that locals should wait for a report from the Government Chemist.
“I am urging residents to stop consuming red meat from major outlets for the next three days, or so. Until we get results from the Government Chemist, we cannot assure them of the quality at the moment,” Abubakar stated.
The inspection was not free from drama as the health team found one supermarket with empty stalls. The management got an alert and withdrew the product from stalls before the county's health inspectorate team arrived.
“We get supplies of red meat thrice a week, but we have withdrawn the products from our shelves until the Government carries out thorough investigations and we get feedback. We are protecting our brand and we do not want our customers to be suspicious of the red meat,” said one of the managers from the supermarket.