Aromat is safe for use, court hears

The debate on whether Aromat is safe for human consumption has continued to rage. Yesterday, the High Court heard that no one has complained of any negative Aromat effect on human or environment for the 13 years the product has been on sale in the country.

In a response to the application by the National Bio-Safety Authority that sought to have the product taken out from the supermarkets and its importation stopped, Unilever Company Secretary Inviolata Oriwo told High Court Judge Isaac Lenaola that no cases have been reported to the company or any authority relating to Aromat’s effect to humans or nature.

Oriwo in her replying affidavit said the product, which is imported from South Africa by Unilever Kenya Limited had been confirmed by Kenya Bureau of Standards to be safe despite having some of the ingredients being genetically grown.

“I confirm that one of the ingredients of Aromat, that is, processed maize flour, which accounts for approximately 20 to 40 per cent of the product is derived from genetically modified maize sourced from South Africa. It is for this reason that Aromat is labelled as containing genetically modified material,” Oriwo said.

She argued that there is a distinct difference between the organisms (GMOs) and their products, saying the former are capable of multiplying and spreading but their products are not alive thus harmless.”Aromat is not likely to affect fauna and flora,” she said.