Officials from the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), in collaboration with officials from the Ministry of Health on Wednesday, November 6, impounded 15,000 kilograms of contaminated rice at a godown center in Embakasi, Nairobi County.
The officials were alarmed to check the facility after they received numerous complaints about the rice distributed by the facility. KEBS flagged the rice after they noticed a strange discoloration on it. The rice has allegedly been in circulation since May 2024.
The rice discovered in Embakasi had been hidden behind many bags of flour at the godown. The manager of the godown alleged that they had not hidden the rice, but placed it aside after realizing it looked different.
“I want like to make it clear, that the rice was not hidden, just by default of stocking, we put it behind there so that we can bring in new orders, but it was not hidden”, the house manager revealed while speaking to journalists.
KEBS officials impound 15,000kg of contaminated rice in Embakasi, Nairobi November 6, 2024.
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Screengrab
Speaking to the media, the director of the storage facility revealed that they had noticed that the rice was discolored and then decided to keep it aside only to be stormed at by the officials from KEBS and health officers accusing them of distributing contaminated rice.
“We noticed the rice was bad, and put it aside on our own, I bought it from the suppliers,” the director alleged.
The director further revealed that the rice had been sold to several people when they started receiving complaints.
“When we received the rice, we thought that it was good, when we started receiving complaints and saw the rice change, we said it was bad,” the director explained.
According to the director, they bought the rice from a local supplier and as soon as they realized it was bad, they set it aside and lodged complaints against the suppliers. He alleged that they filed a case against them.
Officials from KEBS and the Ministry of Health have taken the rice for testing, with the owners of the warehouse where it was impounded awaiting the results.
This revelation puts a worry about the authenticity and safety of the food being consumed in the country’s capital.
Just a week ago, Nairobi County’s Environment Chief Officer Geoffrey Mosiria discovered “smocha” trolleys stored in public toilets along Thika Road.
Peter Kaigwara, KEBS Director of Market Surveillance during the media engagement engages the media during a workshop in Naivasha on April 30, 2024.
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KEBS
