On Monday, September 26, Ministry of Industrialization, Trade, and Culture gave a clarification to as why the Kenya Bureau of Standards had recalled 10 different brands of cooking oil (KEBS).
Government also issued a statement explaining that the iron concentration of only the batches specifically named in the above statement was found to be above the 2.5 threshold set by Kenya’s regulations.
FF1L17487D and FF500175260 batches of Fresh Fri and the FF50017521 batch of Fresh Fri with Garlic oil were both deemed unfit for consumption, while batch number 1.07921 of Bahari Fry was also deemed unfit.
Also Fry Mate 8941D, Olive Gold 105948, Postman 0210322B, Rina 0340522B, Salit SS1L17472D, Tilly 152222A, and Top Fry OL4A3 MF9.25.05.22 were a few of the other batches.
The other manufactured goods, according to the State Department of Industrialisation, are safe for human consumption.
“We wish to reassure the public that whatever else’s is in the market from the respective brands is the safe and there is no cause for alarm.
“The purpose of this meeting was to build consensus on the way forward,” read part of the letter.
The above 10 products were recalled because they contained excessive amounts of iron, as KEBS Managing Editor Bernard Njiraini had previously noted.
He added that beginning in June 2022, a three-month series of testing had been conducted, and that the results showed that not all of the products were up to par.
“We did a surveillance starting June to the month of July and August. We did detect non-compliance in terms of the iron content levels where the standard is very clear – we should have a minimum of 2.5.
“When we collected samples from various shops, we detected it was slightly higher and that is the reason we decided to inform the manufacturers and distributors that whatever does not meet the requirements need to be withdrawn or recalled. That is to ensure we are all in compliance with the laws,” stated Njiraini.
