In response to a recent food poisoning incident in Nyamira, Health and Public Health Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni has issued a stern warning against consuming uninspected meat. The call comes after 32 individuals from 12 households were hospitalized following the consumption of contaminated meat.
Muthoni has instructed the Nyamira County Public Health Department to strengthen enforcement of food safety protocols.
“There is no cause for alarm as the patients are being treated, but I want to caution members of the public that any meat from a carcass or an animal that is not inspected is not for consumption. Let us be very clear and very serious about this,” she said.
This incident joins a string of meat safety concerns across the country, underscoring the need for heightened vigilance by both authorities and consumers.
Food safety gaps
Records of repeated incidents from rural households to large public gatherings point to persistent gaps in Kenya’s meat safety chain. Public health reports have linked outbreaks to zoonotic diseases such as anthrax, microbial contamination including E. coli, and lapses in institutional oversight that allow unsafe handling and uninspected slaughter to take place.
The High Cost of Cheap Meat
- September 2025 33 people hospitalized after consuming meat from a dead cow in Nyamira county
- April 2025 Over 28 cattle died in suspected poisoning; authorities warned residents against eating uninspected meat in Nyakach Kisumu
- April 2025 Over 100 worshippers hospitalized from suspected food poisoning following a church feast where a cow was slaughtered.
- 2014 300 people fell ill in Murang’a after eating contaminated meat
- 2017 100 people fell after eating meat with Anthrax in Bomet
