A section of Kenyans have lamented of ingesting poisonous yogurts that are bought on the roadside especially at the Gilgil weighbridge along the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway.
The issue came to light when a Kenyan shared an experience that raised eyebrows and sparked a conversation among social media users.
"When you arrive at Gilgil weighbridge, buy three yogurts from these roadside hawkers and give one yoghurt back to the hawker to partake as you watch. Even if you give them Ksh1,000 as bonus, they will not take the yoghurt," the netizen stated.
It is this statement that sparked a conversation on social media with a number of Kenyans narrating horrendous experiences they had after buying the yogurts.
"I remember the day like it was yesterday. In 2006, I bought a packet of yoghurt at the spot as I was travelling. Minutes later, I had to ask the matatu driver to halt the vehicle. I could not continue with my journey as I had a running stomach," Raphael Muturi narrated.
"I know of a child who passed on after taking yoghurt along the Nakuru highway. The child was travelling with the father when they bought the yoghurt. Unfortunately, the kid got so sick and died by the time they got to Nairobi," Pepe Faith disclosed.
Kenyans.co.ke spoke to a nutritionist, Moses Kutwah, who highlighted some of the dangers of taking food and in this case, yoghurt, by the roadside.
Kutwah stated that some foods by the roadside do not meet the hygiene standards as well as the temperatures required for storage.
"In some instances, the yoghurt may be expired," he noted.
The nutritionist added that yoghurt ought to be refrigerated as its microbes should be stored under specific temperatures.
"If the yoghurt is not refrigerated, it might lead to poisoning. On the roads, sometimes it is rainy, other times sunny and this leads to the increase and decrease of temperatures which is not good for the yoghurt," he added.
A feature highlighted years back on KTN News revealed that a company by the name Optimum was selling fake yoghurt to individuals.
The feature revealed that the yoghurt did not contain any milk in it.
Public health officials had raided the company only to establish that the yoghurt was made of corn flour, henna, water, colours and sugar.
Kenyans.co.ke contacted the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) on the complains and the agency promised to sample the products and have a report by Monday next week.
