EDITORIAL: Scale up battle against aflatoxin contamination

That the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) has suspended permits of two more firms whose peanut butter products were found to have exceeded the permissible limits of aflatoxin should serve as a wake-up call for regulators to be more vigilant in enforcing quality standards for consumer goods.

The seizure of the sub-standard peanut butter has triggered heightened panic among consumers about the overall safety of food products being sold in the market. The anxiety among consumers is justified because food is a basic need and it is only proper that what is sold in the market is safe for human consumption, especially in this era when so many foods have been linked to an increased risk of cancer and lifestyle diseases.

The discovery of aflatoxin contamination in the sampled peanut butter products should prompt more random tests on the consumer products items being sold in the Kenyan market. And these tests should go beyond the major towns and cover the entire country to send the message that rogue suppliers have nowhere to hide.

The effects of high aflatoxin levels are grave, especially among children who risk liver and kidney damage, liver cancer as well as stunted growth. Adults are not spared either and this has a direct cost on how much families end up spending on health complications arising from eating contaminated processed foods. Cancer cases have risen at an alarming rate in this country and every potential causative factor must be dealt with at the earliest possible opportunity. Tests for aflatoxin contamination should be heightened particularly during this time of the year because the toxin-producing fungus, Aspergillus flavus, thrives in hot weather. Any products found to contain abnormally high levels of the toxin must be pulled from the shelves and consumers adequately informed to avoid the risk of purchasing and ingesting condemned products.

The campaign against aflatoxin contamination should, however, not be at the shop shelves alone. Surveillance should also be conducted at the farm level because the fungi mainly contaminate food before harvest or during storage, especially following prolonged exposure to drought or high-humidity conditions.

Grain farmers should be educated on proper crop husbandry and storage of produce to inhibit the spread of the fungi. Similarly, livestock farmers should be taught about the dangers of feeding their animals with products contaminated by aflatoxin. This will require co-ordination between the national and county governments.