Oil manufacturers in the country were accused of using excessive levels of iron to hook consumers on their products, despite the skyrocketing prices.
The allegations were made by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) after it suspended 10 cooking oil brands due to poor quality.
Bernand Njiraini, the regulatory body's Managing Director stated the poor quality heightened the health concerns of consumers.
"We are talking more about the quality of the edible oil, that if the edible oil fats have excessive iron, the quality in terms of its life - if it's deep frying - deteriorates and that means most of the customers run back to the shop more frequently," Njiraini explained.
According to KEBS, the suspended oil brands constitute more than the set standard of iron, 2.5mg/kg.
"It is illegal for any manufacturers, distributor, or anybody to sell a product that does not meet standards, and therefore, after recall, we are going to proceed with taking actions on these manufacturers who may have distributed these products to the marker," the MD declared.
Additionally, the MD explained that investigations on edible oils in the country were conducted between June and August 2022.
In the ongoing war of words, manufacturers accused KEBS of using false allegations to suspend the brands.
"That hasn't come up in any of our engagements, it is speculative and that is now trying a product to human behaviour, to which no proper research has been done to prove that," countered the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) chief executive, Anthony Mwangi.
Examples of oil brands banned on Friday, September 23 included Fresh Fri with Garlic Oil, Fry Mate, Bahari Fry, Fresh Fri, Gold and Pure Olive Gold, Postman, Rina, Salit, Tilly, and Top Fry.
Following the suspension, Pwani Oil released a statement assuring its customers that its products were safe and meet the quality threshold.
However, after deliberations with the regulatory body, the manufacturers agreed to recall the products to ensure they meet the standards.
