A random survey conducted on the safety of meat sold in Nairobi has confirmed the use of toxic preservatives to prolong the shelf life of the product.
The Health Ministry and Nairobi county found that six out of 40 samples had Sodium Metabisulfite which is toxic in large doses.
In addition to the Naivas Supermarket at Gateway Mall in Machakos, other major supermarkets in Nairobi found using excess preservatives in red meat include;
- Naivas Buruburu(15,604 mg/kg of sodium metabisulfite)
- Muthaiga fine Meat Limited(8783 mg/kg)
- Tuskys Kenyatta Avenue(63,326 mg/kg).
- Tuskys Makadara was found with 512 mg/kg of the additive
- Tuskys Buruburu recorded 44.5 mg/kg.
Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua on Thursday ordered the closure of all meat sections in Naivas supermarkets operating in his county. This after Naivas Gateway was found to sell meat containing 3386 mg/kg of the harmful additive.
Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has also followed suit and closed the meat outlets in the ‘guilty’ supermarkets in Nairobi.
At the same time, Naivas Supermarket has suspended the sale of red meat across all its stores countrywide pending the results of independent testing.
In a statement to newsrooms on Thursday, Naivas Chief Commercial Officer Willy Kimani said the whole stock of red meat will be subjected to a thorough lab test and a step-by-step verification of each participant along the whole meat value chain.
“We will only be selling white meat for now in all our butcheries.”
“Customer welfare remains paramount for the firm and that Naivas does not use or condone the use of any chemical preservatives for meat products,” the statement reads.
He said the company will take strong legal action against anybody found to have supplied contaminated meat to Naivas.
