Naivasha Hawkers using formalin to preserve milk

By ANTONY GITONGA   

NAIVASHA, KENYA: Sixty per cent of milk being sold to the public in Naivasha is adulterated and is unfit for human consumption, The Standard can reveal. The Kenya Dairy Board (KDB) said the milk being consumed in the region poses serious health risks to consumers.

The board revealed that unscrupulous milk hawkers are adding preservatives such as formalin, which is used to preserve bodies in mortuaries.

This came as officers from KDB confiscated over 1,000 litres of contaminated milk been ferried from Kinangop, Nyandarua County to Naivasha. During the operation, 20 people were arrested for ferrying milk in plastic containers, which is against the law.

 KDB Naivasha branch manager Hellen Mbugua said that adulterated milk accounts for 60 per cent of the milk sold in Naivasha. She said that raids by the board had revealed that the quality of the milk sold in the lakeside town is not up to the required standards.

“We have come to realise that the milk hawkers are adding preservatives such as urea, formalin and hydrogen peroxide into the milk to increase its life span,” she said.

Ms Mbugua said they have launched a major operation against milk hawkers who are ferrying milk from Nyandarua County, adding that the area has more than 100 hawkers dealing in the illicit trade.

“We have arrested 20 of them and arraigned them in court as the operation continues,” she said.

The manager urged consumers to buy milk from licensed milk bars or supermarkets.

“The milk the hawkers are selling is full of poisonous additives,” she said.