The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) has changed tune on its decision to ban popular maize flour brands barely two weeks after it ordered the products off the shelves
In a press statement released on Wednesday, November 20, the Kenya Bureau of Standards stated that they had lifted the ban towards the Dola brand, manufactured by Kitui Flour Mills and Kifaru brand manufactured by Alpha Grain Mills Limited.
This decision, they explained, was due to the compliance by the companies implementing the stipulated corrective remedies that Kebs had prescribed.
"The affected brand owners have been implementing the directions of Kebs which have included; recalling all the batches, implementing corrective action in order to avoid recurrence such as mandatory testing of every consignment of raw materials being received at the factory before milling, control measures during the in-process, post-process storage measures and maintenance of appropriate record under supervision of KEBS," the statement read.
The agency further announced that the other manufacturers in the doomed list would remain suspended until they complied fully with the directive.
"Other manufacturers are still undertaking the required corrective action and the suspension of their permits will be lifted as soon as they have completed the process," Kebs stated.
The government had on November 9 cracked whip on five brands of flour that they had reportedly found to be having dangerous levels of aflatoxins and myotoxins.
The brands that were flagged included the Dola Maize Meal, Kifaru Maize Meal, Starehe Maize Meal, Two Ten (210) maize meal, and Jembe Maize Meal.
The board also announced that it had taken drastic steps to suspend the manufacturers' permits and also stopped them from selling the affected products, including taking steps to seize the products and directed all supermarkets across the country to immediately pull the products off the shelves.
Other companies that benefitted from the move by Kebs included the peanut butter brands Zesta and Nuteez which had also been blacklisted for not meeting the standardization requirements.
