Nairobi residents could be taking milk laced with hydrogen peroxide, a Limuru court was told yesterday.
Public Health prosecutor Leonard Waiyaki told Limuru senior principal magistrate Godfrey Oduor milk hawkers and vendors add the chemical to preserve it.
He testified in a case in which 11 people have been charged with transporting milk from Magumu, Kinale and parts of Kinangop, laced with hydrogen peroxide.
Some denied and were released on Sh100,000 bail, pending the case hearing.
Joseph Njoroge was fined Sh100,000 or serve a six-month jail term after he pleaded guilty.
Njoroge was found transporting 30 litres of milk laced with hydrogen peroxide at Nyambare trading centre on the Nairobi-Nakuru highway yesterday.
Joseph Kiragu and Dennis Kigwa also pleaded guilty and were fined Sh50,000 or serve a six-month imprisonment.
Waiyaki said the two were found with 750 litres of milk in Kinale.
He said Njoroge was arrested by Kenya Dairy Board Officials, who tested the milk and found the chemical.
Waiyaki told the magistrate the chemical is known to cause cancer.
Its use as a preservative is against the Health Act, he said.
The prosecutor produced the laced milk as exhibit in all cases.
He said they are perishable products and cannot be kept until the hearing date.
The magistrate ordered the milk in the cases destroyed under the supervision of Public Health officials and the KDB.
