The last thing Kenya should import from China is food

Reports that Nyanza, home to the largest fresh water lake in the continent is now consuming fish imported from China are worrying, not only because imported fish is a threat to the local fish industry but also due to China’s dismal food safety record.  

Poisonous mushrooms, pesticide residue on fruits and vegetables, soy sauce made from human hair collected from salons, barbershops and hospitals, and goat meat marinated in duck urine to give it the taste and smell of lamb meat are some of the stomach-churning food safety incidents that have tainted China’s international food safety reputation.  

The many food safety scandals that have rocked China since the country opened up and joined the WTO in 2001 have led to blacklisting of Chinese foodstuffs in many markets around the world. In September 2008, The European Union banned foods products from China due to fears of melamine contamination. This was after the China milk scandal where farmers added water to milk and added chemicals containing melamine to disguise the fact. This led to the death of four infants from kidney stones and hospitalization of 53,000 others suffering from kidney related complications.   

Two years before this incident, excessive amounts of carcinogen were detected in a species of fish known as turbot. The Shanghai Food and Drug Administration discovered that some fish farmers had been using prohibited food supplements containing carcinogenic nitrofuran metabolites. These supplements leave dangerous cancer causing residues in the flesh of the fish. The exploding water melons scandal of 2011 put the country’s lax farming practices that include shortcuts and excessive use of chemicals, under intense international scrutiny.

Farmers had applied a growth accelerator containing a chemical known as forchlorfenuron. The chemical, which enhances separation of cells, is legal but its excessive application led to the bursting of fruits, which exploded like landmines.  Still in the same year, more than fifteen noodle manufacturers in Guangdong province were reported to have used paraffin wax and industrial dyes during production of sweet potato noodles with a view of lowering costs.

The government must put in place enough safeguards to ensure that no one is harmed by the fish imported from China. Given the country’s tainted food safety reputation, we must all be cautious with food stuff imported from China. The fact that many countries around the world, including the entire European Union have banned various food products from China means that food is the last thing we should import from China.