Toxic grain kills 15

2005-05-20 14:06

Nairobi - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday it was re-testing tonnes of maize intended for Kenyan schoolchildren amid a scare over grain contaminated by toxic mould prompted by the deaths of at least 15 people.

The agency said it did not believe any of its food aid had been contaminated by aflatoxin spores but was taking the precaution after unidentifed moulds were reported on WFP school maize stocks in two schools: one in Nairobi and one in the eastern part of the country.

"WFP is working in close contact with government health inspectors to check the condition of maize in all WFP-supported primary schools in the affected districts and in the Nairobi slums," it said in a statement.

Exposure to large amounts of aflatoxin, a mould that can grow without proper grain storage, over a short period causes acute liver damage and death, while the ingestion of small amounts over a longer period can cause liver cancer.

WFP supports 3 800 Kenyan primary schools with food assistance and while the agency said it was confident its supplies were not affected, spokesperson Laura Melo said it had contracted with an international testing firm to ensure the safety of its stocks "given the seriousness of a possible contamination."

She said about 500 tonnes of maize at 43 Kenyan schools in Nairobi and in the east would be re-tested to ensure its safety.

At least 15 people have died and scores been sickened after eating aflatoxin contaminated grain in eastern Kenya, where the report of mold in school maize originated, according to WFP and Kenyan health authorities.

The health ministry said that in addition to the deaths, at least 76 people have been taken ill with aflatoxicosis, which comes from eating grains contaminated with aflatoxins.

Largely semi-arid eastern Kenyan suffers from chronic food shortages which have in the past forced residents to consume contaminated grains.

Last year, at least 100 people died and several hundred others became ill after eating similarly contaminated grain in the region.

- SAPA