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Safeguard food quality and hygiene, Cofek told

Milk contamination the latest in a string of revelations putting health in question

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by agatha ngotho

Africa14 September 2019 - 20:55
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In Summary


• There have been increasing reports of food contamination, despite regulation by authorities 

• We need to know where the food we are eating comes from and how it was treated

A worker at Kaiti Dairy Cooperative Society in Makueni County receives milk from a farmer.

There have long been talks on food nutrition and security, but what about food safety? Agriculture CAS Andrew Tuimur says the safety of dairy products, vegetables and even processed foods is often overlooked. 

“This is where we need to know about where the vegetables we are eating come from, the meat we are eating and whether it was treated yesterday and slaughtered the same day. The issue of food safety is key,” the CAS said.

Tuimur said the government has introduced milk coolers to farmers so people can cool the milk immediately it is milked.

“This way, the level of bacteria and other organisms will not increase because of the temperatures. But you see, if you milk and just take it like that, the bacteria load will be quite high,” he says.

The Kenya Dairy Board, Tuimur said, is mandated to regulate the ATM machines to ensure they only sell pasteurised milk.

The CAS advised consumers to always be wary when buying things from supermarkets and retail shops because there are unscrupulous traders selling expired products.

“These traders change the expiry dates and sell to consumers. To support consumers, the Consumers Federation of Kenya should exercise more authority and ensure that whatever is being sold in the market is of quality and hygienic,” he said.

FOOD SAFETY AT HOME

Winnie Yegon, a food systems analyst from the UN Food Agriculture Organisation, said it is difficult for consumers to know which milk is genuine and which is not.

“In the past, there have been allegations that some of the milk being sold in the ATM machines is mixed with milk powder, but this needs to be proved. However, the Kenya Dairy is trying to regulate milk being sold from the ATM machines,” she said.

Yegon said they are advocating for food and seed safety because at the end of the day, people will digest them through the animal products that are consumed.

She said this will help identify who is providing the milk so they know how to trace back where the milk is coming from, right from the farm.

“We now want to shift our attention to the consumer, on how to store food safely in their own home,” Yegon said.

"Sometimes we work hard to promote food safety from the producer to the market, but we often forget the consumers do not know how to store food in their houses. How to store leftovers, how to properly cook food or how to thoroughly wash vegetables. Going forward, we want to look at food safety in the homes."

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