Fresh produce companies together with the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) have come up with new standards that from May 1 will determine quality of vegetables and fruits consumed locally.
The Kebs, says Fresh Producers Consortium of Kenya will ensure that the quality in the local market will equal that used for export in terms of pesticides residues and levels of contamination.
This is long overdue. Fundamentally, why should Kenya export better quality than what its citizens and visitors are consuming? It should be obvious that pesticide residues should be at the levels fit for human consumption anywhere across the world.
We urge the Kebs, the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service, the fresh produce firms, and the supermarkets — some of them willing to take part in the tests before the effective date — to ensure that these standards are implemented to the letter, and not left on the shelves to gather dust.
More important, the retailers ought to be monitored tightly to ensure what they put on the shelves meet these standards and, as the rules state, those who fail to comply ought to lose their licences in the push to protect lives.
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