Kenya Coffee Sacks

CONFUSION AS KENYA COFFEE FAILS IMPORT TESTS IN JAPAN, BUT PASSES IN GERMANY

A question over whether Kenyan coffee has excessive amounts of pesticide residue has once again surfaced following a report by Japanese authorities.

The authorities said that samples taken from a shipment of Kenyan coffee contained signs of chlorpyrifos — an active ingredient found in insecticides and considered harmful to humans above a specific dosage.
Following this finding, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare issued advice to warehouses and exporters to run additional tests.

It’s not the first time Kenyan coffee has been prevented from being imported after failing pesticide tests. A number of shipments in Asia were rejected in 2020 because of an excess of ochratoxin.

Tests in Germany, however, came to a different conclusion when they tested the same batch that had just failed in Japan. The German authorities, led by Prof. Mutui, said that the chlorpyrifos content was below 0.05 per cent, the minimum permissible level, making the situation even more confusing.

Two other tests in Kenya and Germany turned negative and we are now wondering why the authorities in Tokyo flagged it

Prof. Mutui, Leading the test from Health Authorit in Germany

Photo source: Bex Walton | Flickr

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