On June 7, 2023, Uganda joined the rest of the world to commemorate the International World Food Day amidst grappling with a number of challenges facing her food and trade sub-sectors of her economy which has caused losses to such sectors.
Recently Uganda’s maize grains exported to Kenyan market have been rejected and forcefully return to the country, while South Sudan Standards Bureau is holding a number of tracks full of grains from Uganda on account of poor standards. The Kenyan authorities claimed that the Maize grains contain aflatoxins substance which cause cancer.
This challenge has affected both the traders and the local farmers in terms of income lost. Surprisingly the maize rejected was not destroyed and it was circulated to the local market and this very significantly will affected the local consumer’s health. It also indicates that 1 out of 10 persons in the word suffer diseases caused by unsafe food.
The World Food Program (WHO) and Food Agricultural Organization (FAO) research revealed that over 200 diseases relate to consumption of contaminated food, although in Uganda the statistics are still scanty.
Doctor Alfred Jatho who doubles as the Head of Department of Community Cancer Services and Community Cancer Health Education said that there are a number of disease that emanate from the food we eat and these among others include ; Cancers especially the liver cancer.
He said in an interview with this website that, poor food handling right from production to the sauce pan cause food poison in the various food staffs especially the grains. The grains like maize when stored poorly are affected by the fungi and when grinded and consumed as Posh cause the abnormal growth of the body cells which in turn results into cancer disease.
‘’The food handling chain , for instance the harvesting, storage, processing and cooking may cause its poisoning and when consumed with poison it will cause cancer disease and other diseases. When food is under or over cooked for example when it’s burnt it gets contaminated with poison.’’ Dr. Jatho said.
He adds; “ Several types of diseases emanate from the food we eat because of poor handling and cooking for instance cooking food using polygene bags , use of chemicals to spray plants and the soils contaminated with chemicals cause food poisoning.’’
He further said that under nutrition and over nutrition for instance eating excess certain types of foods cause a lot of fats in the body something that promotes abnormal development of the body cells thus resulting into cancer.
Doctor Jatho also revealed that the most common cancers that results from the food we eat are, Leukemia (blood cancer), cancer of the Brest, Stomach and Prostrate.
He recommends that to avoid and reduce the cancers that are related to food consumption, we need to avoid chemicals used in the production, cook food properly by ensuring that the food we eat is not over or under cooked, the preservatives should also under go certain scientific processes before they are passed by the National Bureau of Standards so as to ensure that they are ideal for keeping food safe.
The doctor also recommended that people should ensure that they eat fruits and vegetables because they are protective food staffs and they help in absorbing of a lot of harmful compounds which may cause the abnormal growth of cells resulting into cancer.
Agnes Kirabo the Executive Director of Food Rights Alliance (FRA) who is also a seasoned Food and Agriculture policy analyst, while addressing Journalists at Uganda Media Center on Tuesday 6 June 2023, said many Ugandans consume unsafe food unknowingly due to poor handling and processing standards in place.
She said for instance the cereals get contaminated when being grinded because the grinding machines get warn out and produce maize flour containing metallic particles that are harmful to human health, saying that the cancer related diseases are attributed to consumption of such maize flour.
She also said a number of food staffs prepared from restaurants and along roadside joints around urban settings in Uganda pose a huge health risk to consumers of such food, which may lead to outbreaks of typhoid, diarrhea and cholera, among others.
Huzaima Sekalema, Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI) Uganda, Program Officer, said Ugandan Cereals for export, especially maize, have of recent been rejected in the East African Community (EAC) Market on allegation that it contains aflatoxins that are harmful to human health.
He advised the Government and farmers to improve on cereal storage and drying facilities if they are to benefit from the East African large consumer market least they will continue to cry foul play always.
“Farmers should desist from drying their maize on dirty floors and should use modern storage facilities for beans, Peas, maize and millet in order to avoid disappointment and losses. ‘’
He further said in the latest Kenya scenario, the country has lost an estimate of between Ushs 3-4 billion which could have been avoided if the players were following the regulations.
By George Bukenya
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