EDITORIAL: Creating a food safety agency will save lives

Perhaps nothing exemplifies the casual attitude we have towards life than the way Kenyans handle food. Indeed, even for the well-off, dropping off from public view to indulge in hidden dingy food and drinks joints is an easily accepted way of life.

It is no wonder then that the food chain from the garden to supermarkets and open markets is, to put it starkly, a poisoned chalice.

It is common to see the poor growing food along the heavily contaminated Athi River just outside Nairobi or around the Ruai sewage lagoon that easily ends up on dinner tables in city hotels and homes.

This is because there is little effort to certify origin of produce—what is called traceability. We continue to expose ourselves to diseases throughout the food chain.

That would be less so if the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) that regulates formally traded bulk products was working properly.

Apart from the latest ban on a number peanut butter products and maize flour brands, the bureau has not been efficient in its job and Kenyans have had to sweat out reports of importation of contaminated sugar and maize.

To make matters worse, it does not monitor local agricultural goods sold in supermarkets and other informal markets. Kephis on the other hand only covers agriculture goods meant for the export market.

It is thus heart-warming to see the government proposing a food safety authority that will deal with the bulk of foods that land on Kenyan tables. Crop Development and Agricultural Research principal secretary Hamadi Boga says his ministry and that of Health are in the process of coming up with the agency.

However, we note that such an undertaking is massive given the informal nature of our markets. It will thus require comprehensive studies and benchmarking to make it worthwhile.

We also believe that this venture should involve the counties where the food is produced and even involve the reorganisation of marketing to make it more formal and controllable.

If we fail to make this project work, we will continue wasting money on medical health for failure to make public health function work efficiently. As the PS said, a multi-agency approach and investment would be the best.