Aflatoxin B1 Affects Kenyan Markets: How It Can be Managed

Abstract

Aflatoxin B1 is a toxin produced as secondary fungal metabolites by the fungus Aspergillus, particularly A. flavus. The toxin has significantly contaminated the food supply chain especially cereals in Kenya. Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) has recently banned five maize flour brands, citing high aflatoxin levels. They also suspended seven peanut butter products and the permits of their parent companies over aflatoxin contamination. The huge losses encountered by these companies calls for concerted efforts to manage aflatoxin in cereals. Aflasafe, a natural product for controlling poisonous A. flavus in food crops, including maize is made from roasted sterile sorghum (usually colored blue using food color) coated with non-poison producing types of A. flavus native to Kenya. The product is broadcasted in the maize fields during flowering and after exposure to sufficient moisture, the friendly Aflasafe fungi grow out as green spores containing millions of spores that are eventually spread to the crop, carried by wind and insects in the manner that aflatoxin-producing fungi are spread.