Kenya Kwanza Government’s Imported Cooking Oil Is Declared Unfit for Human Consumption by KEBS

On Sunday 03 Dec -The Kenya Bureau of Standards concluded in a letter dated September 5th, written to the Managing Director of the Kenya National Trading Corporation:

The consignments have been refused, and the importer is hereby instructed to reship them back to the nation of origin within 30 days of this letter’s date; if they are not, the importer will be responsible for their destruction.

The Kenya Bureau of Standards evaluated the Kenya Standardization Specification for Fortified Edible Oils and Fats against consignment entry numbers 23MBAIM402473344, 23MBAIM403321628, and 23MBAIM403235943.

“The results established that the consignments failed to comply with Vitamin A and Insoluble Impurities.”

According to KEBS’s final assessment, the edible oils’ fat content was 0.47% more than the allowed level, with a mass content of 99.97 instead of 99.5. The tested oils had a moisture and matter volatile content of 0.03 at 105°C, compared to the necessary threshold of 0.2.

When potassium hydroxide was used to measure the acid value of the edible oils, the result was 0.12 milligrams, compared to the required level of 0.6. The edible oils have 5.42 grams of peroxide oxygen per kilogram of oil, compared to the required 10.

Additionally, the KEBS analysis revealed that the imported oil had 0.04 insoluble impurities, compared to the necessary 0.05.

Although the KEBS research was conducted in July, it is unclear why KEBS has not destroyed the oil as stated in its letter and why the previous consignments that were shipped in before July were not tested in a lab.

Consignment number 23MBAIM402747001, for example, was exported by Multi Commerce FZC, a Sharjah, United Arab Emirates-registered company, and was not tested.

The goal of importing 125,000 MT of edible oil was to lower living expenses, however, it turned out that the consignment’s price was inflated, making it uncompetitive.

When it became known that businesses controlled by individuals with connections to the government were being used exclusively to purchase food and edible oils through KNTC, the DCI, and the EACC questioned senior KNTC officials last week.