15 per cent of maize flour contaminated, Jkuat experts

Pan-seared swordfish steak in coconut sauce served with pan-fried ugali by Chef Ali Mandhry

Fifteen per cent of maize flour in the country is contaminated but the wheat is generally safe. A survey by the Ministry of Health and Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology (Jkuat), funded by the European Union (EU) shows that there is need to address this.

The survey dubbed Strengthening the Kenya National Food Fortification Programme was done for wheat and maize flour after conducting visits in 104 milling industries.

“About 85 per cent of the maize flour in the market is compliant with the aflatoxin levels.

This is to say that maize flour safety is still a concern,” said Mildred Maingi, who was part of the Jkuat EU Food Fortification Funded Project.

The most affected areas mentioned to have brands with high aflatoxin levels are Eastern, Central and South Rift regions.

It was mentioned that maize is harvested when they are not dry and thee after the moisture content is still not controlled.

Wheat flour was reported to be doing generally well in the market when it came to aflatoxin levels as the popular brands are safe to consume.

“In 2020, there was 98 per cent compliance and in 2021 there is 100 per cent compliance, therefore all the wheat flour brands in the market are compliant they were below the 10ppb reccommended levels,” said Maingi.

She added: “We need to find out why maize flour is more affected than wheat, are there more control measures from the source for the wheat flour compared to wheat? So we need to get to the root cause of the problem and put measures.”

According to the survey, food fortification for wheat and maize flour has been widely adopted and there is a noticeable improvement since 2020, when the previous survey was conducted.

For example for maize flour fortification at industry level was at 28 per cent, this went up to 46 per cent in 2021.

For wheat, fortification at industry level went up to 84 per cent in 2021 from 35 per cent in 2020.

This has been been achieved through capacity building of the milling industries, who are able to take some tests within the industry.

“The easier it is for them to test from within, the easier and faster it is to get results and make critical decisions,” said Francis Aila from JKUAT.

There are still some tests that the industries take outside the country because they do not have the capacity to test.

Close to 60  per cent of the industries are still taking samples outside the country to test for vitamins and 21 per cent take samples outside to test for aflatoxin.

Public health policy

“If you are taking samples for testing outside, the turn around time is higher for one to make decisions on the product, maybe whatever you would have corrected has already been surpassed by time and some of the product might have already been consumed, making it difficult to recall it,” said Aila.

Close to 50 per cent of the industries get their results back after a month when they take samples outside the country for testing.

Food fortification is now being emphasised as a malnutrition mitigation by adding micro-nutrients to food at the industry level. This is being taken as a public health policy which aims to reduce the number of people  with dietary deficiencies within a population.

In 2009, the government adopted a mandatory iodine standard for all edible salt of 30 to 50mg/kg with potassium iodate as a required fortificant.

To make food fortification possible, industries need premixes (vitamins and minerals used in fortification, which are combined in a powdery blend) durinng milling.

Premixes do not affect the taste, smell, texture or quality of the food.

Farmers were asked to make use of the warehouse receipt system, where they can deposit their products to be certified. They were also asked to self regulate and prevent aflatoxin from the farm level all the way to the end product.

The government was asked to resolve premix challenges such as taxes, since a lot of industries get them from outside the country. Tax exemption for premixes will enable SMEs in the milling industry take up food fortification.