Tackling aflatoxins in food:  A concerted effort needed

How do I know that a certain kind of food is contaminated?

You never know. You are eating a product that has a toxin that has been made inside it, you can’t see it. Unless it’s massively contaminated, you can’t taste it. When we do certification of a product, basically we have gone to the premise where they have made that product, checked their process, we have tested it in a laboratory, and when everything is okay, we give them the Q-mark. We do this to protect the consumer.

This is a government structure that has been put in place to make sure the product is okay before you consume it because you can’t see microbes and all the toxins.

What are the current regulations and standards in Uganda regarding aflatoxin levels in food products, especially cereals and legumes?

The regulation for aflatoxins is done using the country’s compulsory standards. Here, a product covered by Uganda’s standards has a requirement in there that refer to how much aflatoxins are allowed. We don’t have a regulation for aflatoxins, but compulsory Uganda standards which cover maize grain, maize flour, millet, sorghum and others.

We have the regulations that we implement—the certification regulation which requires every product that is covered by a compulsory standard to have the Q-mark. And part of that process includes checking for aflatoxins.

We have the market surveillance regulation which authorises our team to go out in the market and pick whatever they find that isn’t meeting Uganda standards. If your product does not have the Q-mark, they are free to remove it whether it is good or bad, because it means you have not gone through the process to establish the quality of that product and, of course, the import-inspection regulation, which governs the products coming into Uganda.

We don’t have a regional standards body. The regional agreement is the same and is adopted at partner states because that’s where the legal framework resides.

What is UNBS’s threshold of aflatoxins?

We have a maximum of 10 milligramme per kilogramme of total aflatoxin. We also check a specific aflatoxin (B1) which scientists have established that it’s the real cause of the cancer and that one does not exceed five milligrammes per kilogramme. So generally, the total amount should not exceed 10 milligrammes per kilogramme.

How does UNBS monitor and inspect and enforce these aflatoxin guidelines, especially in markets and retail shops?

Food safety is a value chain, so there is a beginning, especially from the farm, how they handle the product after that, the storage, the transportation and the adding value before it goes to the market. UNBS is at the end of that value chain where people have added value and are now packaged to meet the requirements of existing Uganda standards before the product goes to the market.

But there is a level of a definition of market because there are some markets where things are sold raw. Here is where the ministries of Agriculture and that of Local Government, including KCCA like in Kampala, who monitor what is in the different markets, UCDA (Uganda Coffee Development Authority), Dairy Development […] and other authorities in the food chain came in. This is where everyone is supposed to do their work before that product goes into the market.

UNBS mainly deals with products with added value that meet the existing Uganda standards and our enforcement is around the retail shops, the supermarkets, and other markets where we deal with packaged products.

Our surveillance team has schedules each quarter to go to the market basing on the resources UNBS has available particularly on products under concern that run through a financial year.

What are the penalties taken against businesses or individuals found in violations of these regulations?

The UNBS Act outlines that if you go against the regulations, we are able to prosecute you and you can be fined and even get a jail sentence. We have tried very hard to give people the opportunity to do what is right because many people don’t know them. So what we do is that we do not push you right away into prosecution unless you are a repeat offender or someone who just doesn’t care. Most of the culprits are fined, we seize their items and they are given an opportunity to reapply for certification.

In the last one or two years, how has been the compliance of these regulations?

An example is the maize flour. At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, we had only four companies certified against the Uganda standards for distribution of maize flour in the whole country. By the time we came out of the pandemic period, we had 23 who had gotten certification during that time because we would not be able to distribute food for people who are not meeting standards. As we speak right now, we have over 400 certified maize flour distributors. The number has increased and now more people know that they are supposed to implement standards.

And our field team is bringing everyone who doesn’t comply with regulations so that the numbers keep on increasing.

What initiatives or programmes does UNBS have in place to educate and raise awareness, both for producers and consumers about the risks of food poisoning and prevention measures?

We do stakeholder engagements and also reach out to the traders, millers and give them information about standards and how they can implement them.

Right now, we are working with the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Fisheries (MAAIF). This is because the issues of food safety are embedded in these industries, but they have to work with all of us in that value chain so that we collectively deal with issues of food safety. We look at different issues; not only aflatoxins.

About the ongoing issues that were raised with our neighbours, South Sudan, we (UNBS) and MAAIF are working together. When it comes to raw grain, sanitary and phytosanitary permits (SPs) are required and the competent authority to issue these permits is MAAIF. This comes together with the certification that we give. The SPs caters [to] the beginning part. The certification covers the end bit. When you have both then the food safety chain is closed.

We are working together to ensure any grain that goes out of this country has an SPs permit and the Q-mark from UNBS.

All partner states in the East African region have the same standards that we follow, and if we don’t, a partner state is allowed to stop it, that is where it’s raised to the other bureaus.

The challenge we had with Kenya and Sudan is that these products were not certified, so we didn’t know the product that had gone to those countries. That’s why we are encouraging people to certify and have the Q-mark because when an issue arises, we can defend your product with our data.

What recommendations does UNBS have for producers and consumers of food about food safety?

Those who have chosen to trade in any kind of food product should focus on safety, not money. Issues with grain have a lot to do with how to handle them before we get to the point of consumption. We are encouraging schools, [the] Education ministry, health practitioners, and defence institutions because they are the ones that deal in food in bulk. How we store that food matters.

The consumers are urged to not consume any product that doesn’t have a Q-mark. It is more expensive to buy cheap food. If we are all buying products of good quality, the prices come down—this is market forces of demand and supply.

Let us not use the price of a product to put our families in danger because cancer is a very expensive disease and once you get there, you are just ending your life.

There is a role that local governments play in every district to represent UNBS and can be able to do the work more frequently.