This archive report was first published on 6 September 2019.
Kenya's Ministry of Health has revealed that many supermarkets still stock and sell meat preserved with a banned chemical, sodium metabisulfite.
According to a recent analysis, four out of 201 meat samples from supermarkets in nine counties contained high levels of the preservative, which is not allowed in meat products.
The Ministry conducted the analysis almost two months after an NTV exposé revealed how some businesses were using the poisonous chemical to preserve meat products.
Meat samples from some supermarkets in Kiambu, Machakos, and Tharaka Nithi were found to contain the preservative, while ten out of 27 samples from Nakuru are yet to be released.
"Some of the supermarkets apply the preservative in excess of the recommended maximum levels," the Ministry stated.
County governments have initiated prosecution of the owners of the supermarkets and meat outlets found to have meat and meat products exceeding the maximum permitted limits of sodium metabisulfite.
The Ministry reiterated that it is illegal to sell meat and meat products that do not comply with the Food, Drugs and Chemical Substances Act, Chapter 254.
The Ministry has called on counties to sustain surveillance of meat and meat products and enforce the law.
