This archive report was first published on 20 July 2019.
On July 20, 2019, the Health ministry in Kenya analyzed 40 samples of meat from random establishments after revelations that some meat sellers were using preservatives in their products.
Among the samples, two from Naivas supermarket in Nairobi were found to contain high levels of sodium metabisulfite, a preservative not allowed in meat products.
The minced meat samples had sodium metabisulfite levels 31 times higher than the acceptable limit, with one sample containing as much as 15,604 mg/kg.
Naivas supermarket suspended the sale of red meat across its stores countrywide after the findings, and six meat retailers were closed down by health officials.
According to the National Public Health Laboratory Food Safety and Nutrition Reference Laboratory results, some outlets had been selling meat laced with sodium metabisulfite, a whitish, powdery compound commonly known as 'dawa ya nyama' or 'the meat drug.'
NTV exposé revealed how butchers mixed the powder with water and sprayed it on the meat to give it a crisp, reddish colour, making customers believe the beef was fresh even if the carcass could have stayed for up to a month.
Health officials have directed counties to conduct regular investigations on all food items and warned that anyone found to have adulterated any food item will be prosecuted.
