- The rice, they said, was imported into the country.
- Exposure to aflatoxin is known to cause both chronic and acute hepatocellular injury.
Image: FILE
The Kenya Bureau of Standards has seized 3000 bags of rice in Mombasa which it says is contaminated with aflatoxin.
Kebs said on Monday that the consignment was packaged in 25 kg bags.
“We seized the rice in Shimanzi and found it to be contaminated with a high aflatoxin content,” they said.
The rice, they said, was imported into the country.
Aflatoxin, according to the Center for Disease Control, is a fungal toxin that commonly contaminates maize and other types of crops including legumes such as peanuts.
“The contamination happens during production, harvest, storage or processing,” the centre says.
Exposure to aflatoxin is known to cause both chronic and acute hepatocellular injury.
“In Kenya, acute aflatoxin poisoning results in liver failure and death in up to 40 per cent of cases,” they say.
Kebs has been working to counter substandard goods and products getting into the Kenyan market and harming Kenyans.
They started the 'Wajibika Na Kebs' programme to enable members of the public to report cases of substandard products.
“Consumers can verify whether the Kebs ‘S’ mark permit on products is valid by sending the code underneath it to the SMS Code 20023 to get product validity status details,” Kebs said.