KEBS suspends ten condemned brands of edible oils

The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) has condemned and suspended ten brands of edible oil and fats as unfit for human consumption for failing to fulfill the acceptable health standards.

KEBS said that the suspension of Bahari Fry, Fresh Fri, Fresh Fri with Garlic Oil, Fry Mate, Gold and Pure Olive Gold, Postman, Rina, Salit, Tilly and Top Fry was to alert the public to avoid consuming substandard products.

“The listed brands of non-compliant edible fats and oils that failed to meet the requirements of the standard, and to request your good office to notify your members to recall this brands and remove them from the supply chain from your members’ outlets across the country,” the statement read.

The suspension of the brands is temporary to facilitate the protection of consumers from potentially unsafe products.

KEBS noted that the cooking oils would only be allowed in the market after complying with the required standards.

“Kindly note that this is not a ban on the brands but a temporary suspension to facilitate the protection of consumers from potentially unsafe products, safeguard the economic interests of manufacturers of compliant brands and allow the manufacturers of the non-compliant brands to initiate and put in place effective corrective action under KEBS supervision,” a part of the statement read.

Kenyans were advised to check the quality of various cooking oils before purchasing and to certify that the cooking oils had been approved by sending the code underneath the Standardisation Mark logo to 20023.

“One should send the code (numbers) underneath the Standardisation Mark logo to 20023 (i.e. type message SM# Code or ISM#code, for local and imported products respectively, and SMS to 20023) to get product manufacturing details and permit validity status. “If the details are different, invalid or not traceable to the platform, retailers should not purchase, stock or offer for sale the products but instead report to KEBS through toll-free number 1545 during official working hours 8 am to 1 pm and 2 pm to 5 pm from Monday to Friday,” the statement read.

The Consumers Federation of Kenya (COFEK) advised Kenyans to avoid purchasing the suspended brands until they were approved fit for consumption by KEBS.