This archive report was first published on 11 November 2019.
On November 10, 2019, the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) suspended the licenses of five maize millers, including Kitui Flour Mills Limited, over the sale of substandard flour. The affected firms have since faulted Kebs, citing a 'substandard job.'
Kitui Flour Mills Limited, the miller of Unga Wa Dola, questioned the aflatoxin test results by Kebs, arguing that their internal auditing and external laboratories have brought back different results. The company's general manager, Abdalla Said, stated that aflatoxin results differ from laboratory to laboratory, and the unilateral finding by Kebs contradicts several other independent tests.
According to Mr. Said, their tests and those from three other independent laboratories have shown levels of aflatoxin in their product to be at an acceptable level of 1.5 parts per billion (ppb), which is below the allowed maximum limit of 10 ppb by Kenyan standards.
“We are therefore taken aback by the notice issued by KEBS which claims that our maize product has failed the standardization test because the levels of aflatoxin are higher than the maximum limit allowed by relevant standards in the country,” said Abdalla Said.
The Cereal Millers Association also decried the banning of the five unga brands, arguing that it did not understand the laboratory parameters Kebs used to test the affected brands. The association's chairperson, Mohamed Islam, stated that test results for aflatoxins differ from laboratory to laboratory and that they would like to take time to understand Kebs' methodology of testing for aflatoxins.
