Food-related businesses in Nairobi have been been limited to only five laboratories where they can apply for food handlers' medical certificates.
They confirm the handlers are in good health and will not pass on any ailment to customers.
They include Mayfair Health Services Limited, Quality Plus Laboratory & Consultancy Services Ltd, MediTest Diagnostic Services Ltd, Corner House Laboratory and Jamhuri Medical & Laboratory Services Ltd.
In a public notice by the Nairobi Metropolitan Services , only certificates from the five laboratories or generated from the Nairobi Revenue Services will be recognised.
“We wish to notify members of the public, food handlers, food-related businesses and industries that the following five laboratories have been prequalified to offer Medical Laboratory Testing for food handlers,” the notice reads.
As a result, NMS director general Mohammed Badi has urged all food handlers and their employees to visit the Nairobi Revenue Services (NRS) website.
They should go to Food Handler Health Certificate for further information and procedure to register and apply for the certificate.
He warned that only approved and NRS-generated Food Handlers Medical Certificates will be accepted for compliance.
The Nairobi County Government has found itself in the spotlight of unwanted publicity over slow processing of food-handling certificates.
In November 2019, it announced it would go digital in issuance certificates to speed up processing.
The Nairobi government had been on the spot for failing to test public food handlers for almost a year, despite collecting the requisite fees.
Then-Health chief officer Mohamed Sahal said going digital will reduce the turnaround time by 50 per cent from payment, testing and certification of food handlers.
Sahal said the digitisation process is being powered by the National Bank in collaboration with the county. Going forward, he said, food handlers will now be required to pay for the certificates online either through M-Pesa or other payment platforms.
“When this programme is implemented, the turnaround time from payment, testing and certification of food handlers will be reduced by 50 per cent,” he said.
In August the same year, Kenya Association of Manufacturers regional coordinator for Nairobi Robert Juma said no public food handler has been issued with a certificate of good health for almost a year.
Tests are rarely done by public health officers.
He also faulted City Hall for its lack of capacity to test, rack and prove that someone has been tested.
He said the county government’s four licensed public laboratories capable of carrying out the testing are already overstretched.
(Edited by V. Graham)
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