Dairy Board raises alarm over rise in sale of adulterated milk

The Kenya Dairy Board (KDB) has raised alarm over the rise in sale of adulterated milk in Nyandarua and Laikipia counties.

According to the KDB’s Chief Dairy Development Officer Paul Ndung’u, the vice is being perpetrated by unscrupulous businessmen out to maximize their profits through dubious means leading to contamination of milk.

He cautioned the traders against the use of plastic milk containers while either storing or transporting milk to the market and other milk processors saying this contaminates the produce with serious bacteria. 

He pointed out those manufacturing yoghurt must follow proper regulatory standards.

Speaking in Nyahururu Town Thursday night during a dinner hosted for milk transporters in Laikipia and Nyandarua Counties, Ndung’u warned that the board will not relent on the fight against the vice and those who fail to comply with law will be arrested.

The dinner-cum-training session for the traders is part of the on-going sensitization programme on the dairy sector laws.

Ndung’u said KDB had noticed that some people were even adding water to the milk while others add chemicals so as to get extra money.

He warned that the board will not entertain this and they should therefore comply with the law or quit the business.

Ndung’u noted that most of traders did not know about the laws regulating the dairy sector and that was why the organization was carrying out the sensitization programme across the country.

“We are carrying out this programme so that traders get to know more on these laws so that we can have clean milk being sold to the public. We will not allow our people to die just because some people are contaminating the milk  and that is why the board is here,” he said.

He said the board had commenced consultations with dairy farmers across the country to get views on how to go about the policy shift.

Report by Peter Mwangi