Nine arrested for hawking food in Embu

Nine people were on Tuesday arrested by Public Health Officers in Embu for allegedly hawking food stuff, a practice contravening the public health law.

Justus Kavindi, the Public Health Officer in charge of Embu West, said the nine were arrested during a crackdown aimed at sanitizing the region of foods prepared under unhygienic conditions and that might lead to outbreak of diseases such as cholera.

According to the Public Health Act, hawking of food stuff is illegal.

The Act states: “No person shall collect, prepare, manufacture, keep, transmit or expose for sale any foodstuffs without taking adequate measures to guard against or prevent any infection or contamination thereof.”

Kavindi noted that most of the food was being cooked under unhygienic conditions hence posing a health threat to the consumers.

“Some cook at home and we do not know which ingredients they put in the food they sell in town,” he noted.

He added that the crackdown will go on until the food hawking is addressed fully.

“We are still healing from the cholera outbreak which hit Mbeere South and there is a need to prevent further spread of such diseases.”

Written by Diing A. Magot