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{
    "id": 11950,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/11950/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 256,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mrs. Mugo",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Public Health and Sanitation",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 85,
        "legal_name": "Beth Wambui Mugo",
        "slug": "beth-mugo"
    },
    "content": "My Ministry conducted a survey on safety of maize in the country, from 25th to 30th April, 2010 and gave inter-Ministerial recommendations for prevention of aflatoxin in the country. The recommendations included procurement of moisture meters and mobile driers by the Ministry of Agriculture; replacement of contaminated maize with safe maize by the Ministry of State for Special Programmes; rapid testing for active aflotoxin; search in the vulnerable communities by my Ministry; and fast-tracking of the implementation of warehouses receipt system to encourage farmers to store their produce in National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) stores. Factory Maize millers were advised to test maize for presence of aflatoxin contamination prior to milling. These recommendations are contained in a document marked “Annex Win. 1”, and which I now table. Mr. Speaker, Sir, my Ministry was notified by M/s Proctor & Allan vide a letter dated 6th October, 2011, which is marked “Annex 9”; that three batches of Unimix food products, which Red Cross Society had bought from them and distributed to hunger stricken Kenyans were later confirmed by Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) as having high levels of aflatoxin. On getting this information, my Ministry moved fast and put measures in place in order to prevent dangers caused by aflatoxin exposure. We immediately issued an alert through telephone calls to public health officers countrywide to immediately scale up surveillance on Unimix products from Batch Nos.236.011.1, 236.011.2 and 237.011.1. This alert was followed up with a circular dated 17th October, 2011 as documented in Annex 8 of the documents I will table. My Ministry has since seized all Unimix products recalled by the Kenya Red Cross Society and stored in their warehouses amounting to 183 metric tonnes as indicated in Annex 7. My Ministry has also sampled the recalled Unimix for further laboratory analysis. The samples have been taken from the processing lines of the three firms to ascertain the safety of the food. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Ministry has scaled up the sampling and testing of all Unimix and other maize flour in the field, irrespective of the batch numbers the products have come from. The Ministry is monitoring the adherence to good manufacturing practices by millers and ensuring mandatory testing of raw materials before milling as per our Circular MIS/17/4/18A of 2nd June, 2010 to all millers. This is captured in Annex 3. The Ministry is undertaking continuous sensitization of the general public on health risks caused by consumption of aflatoxin contaminated products. My Ministry has issued a public health alert to all health workers in the affected regions, detailing the signs and symptoms of acute exposure to aflatoxin poisoning. These include jaundice, vomiting, abdominal pain and swollen limbs. We are monitoring closely and our surveillance system has not confirmed any case of aflatoxin poisoning yet. My Ministry has written to all agencies dealing with cereals and grains that have been condemned to destroy them in accordance with the court orders, as detailed in Annex 4(3), which I will table."
}