Kenyan food 'toxin free'
2005-05-25 21:46
Nairobi - The UN world food programme (WFP) said on Wednesday that tons of maize intended for Kenyan schoolchildren were free of contamination after it was forced to re-test the grain amid a toxic mould scare.
The tests were ordered last week after at least 15 Kenyans died from eating aflatoxin-contaminated grain and unidentified moulds were found on maize stocks to be distributed to two schools: one in Nairobi and one in the eastern part of the country.
The agency said: "All food provided by WFP to schools in Makueni district and Nairobi slums of Kenya is free of any aflatoxin contamination."
Exposure to large amounts of aflatoxin, a mould that could grow without proper grain storage for a short period caused acute liver damage and death, while the ingestion of small amounts for a longer period could cause liver cancer.
WFP supported 3 800 Kenyan primary schools with food assistance and 500 tons of maize at 43 Kenyan schools in Nairobi and in the east were re-tested to ensure its safety.
According to WFP and Kenyan health authorities at least 15 people have died and scores have become ill after eating aflatoxin-contaminated grain in eastern Kenya.
The health ministry said last week that in addition to the deaths, at least 76 people had been taken ill with aflatoxicosis, which came from eating grains contaminated with aflatoxins.
Largely, semi-arid eastern Kenyan suffered from chronic food shortages, which had in the past forced residents to consume contaminated grains.
Last year, at least 100 people died and several hundred others were sickened after eating similarly contaminated grain in the region.
- SAPA