Africa-Press – Uganda. Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has revealed that uncertified maize milers are engaged in the sale of substandard flour, which is not fit for human consumption.
The country’s standard and certification regulator said much of the maize flour on the market contain metallic chips from worn out mills, which poses great danger to the lives of Ugandans. UNBS officials said when a magnet is placed in the maize flour, the metallic chips are attracted by it.
This comes as a result of millers’ failure to replace worn-out hammer mill crushers.
In Alebtong, UNBS team last year found many mills grinding rotten maize, which were infested with insects and foreign matter, Mr Isaac Walakura, a surveillance officer at the Gulu UNBS regional offices, said at a sensitisation workshop in Alebtong District on Tuesday.
Accordingly, the public has been advised not to consume any maize flour which does not bear the UNBS logo.
UNBS last year carried out a countrywide enforcement of maize grain and maize flour standards in an operation which started from Kampala.
“During the surveillance operation, when we put magnets into the maize flour, you find that metallic chips are attracted by the magnet. This is because the millers are not replacing worn-out hammer mill crushers,” Mr Walakura said.
He advised the millers to replace the hammer mill crushers regularly and they should have the magnets for testing the maize flour whether it contains iron chips or not.
He said this practice of using worn-out hammer mill crushers for grinding is mostly common in rural areas where consumers are less concerned about the quality of maize flour.
“Products placed on the market must comply with requirements. When I go to the shop, I expect to find maize flour well packaged, the packaging material has the manufacturer’s address, brand name, date of manufacture, date of expiry and storage conditions. But some millers are not doing these and even those doing are putting false information,” Mr Walakura said.
He added: “There is a deliberate change of expiry dates. You have seen people who change expiry dates because they don’t want to suffer financial losses. Should the product expire in January, you will still find it in the market in December. You have seen people packaging 10kg but the weight is 7kg. You see cement labelled 50kg but the package is 47 kg.”
Ms Barbara Kamusiime, the UNBS senior public relations officer, said they took the sensitisation to Alebtong because UNBS last year undertook enforcement activity in Lango Sub-region where they found such low standard products. The affected millers’ businesses were closed down but they claimed they were not aware about standards and what they were expected to do.
“The affected millers called on UNBS to sensitise them on requirements of the standards, especially on the certification requirements because most of them claimed they did not know. This is why they were closed because they did not have information related to standard development,” Ms Kamusiime said.
She further said: “Since the millers have now been sensitised on what they are supposed to do, those who fall victims will have their businesses closed.”
Mr Kennedy Olet, the managing director of Broadlink Uganda Limited, a milling company in Alebtong Town, said he has been in the business for 13 years but his company has failed to grow because of a number of challenges.
“There are few challenges which we are facing in the process of maintaining the quality of our product. People sell maize to us, which has a lot of moisture content,” he said.
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