Kebs sounds alert on fake juices

Artificial drinks in Kenyan shops are being passed off as fruit juices, the national standards body has warned.

According to the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs), Kenyans have been duped to buy juices which have only five per cent of fruit extract against the acceptable global standard of at least 35 per cent.

Kebs now wants those drinks that do not qualify as fruit juices to be withdrawn from the market or labelled differently.

The standards body blames manufacturers and weak-willed government officials for the situation saying its efforts to enforce the 35 per cent rule had been overrun by strong lobbying by juice manufacturers and refusal by the Ministry of Agriculture to change its law.

“This is a battle we have been having with juice manufacturers for a long time. When I travel abroad, I check their juices and they are clearly labelled, and those with fruit pictorials have 50 per cent extract from the fruits. Some African countries have reached up to 35 per cent fruit content in their juices. Unfortunately in our case, the requirement was left at five per cent by the Ministry of Agriculture authorities,” said the Kebs managing director, Ms Evah Oduor.

She said the anomaly provides a case for strong consumer lobbies in the country. In 2009, Kebs threatened to ban from supermarket shelves about 10 manufacturers that were using pictorials passing off as real fruit juices on their packages. This, however, fizzled out after strong lobbying.

Consumer Federation of Kenya chairman Stephen Mutoro says the manufacturers were violating Article 46 of the Constitution that gives rights to consumers.

“We hold Kenya Bureau of Standards accountable and are putting consumers on the alert about this deceptive advertising,” Mr Mutoro said.

Set standards

He said the manufacturers could not purport to set the standards since that was vested in Kebs.

The juices and beverages segment largely operated under loose regulation until 2009 when Kebs announced plans to introduce stringent health safety standards by having manufacturers display ingredients used to make the drinks on the packages.

The standards body reportedly went ahead and invested Sh300 million in testing machines to ascertain that, indeed, the juices contained the ingredients displayed on the packages.

In a bid to protect consumers, Kebs had in 2008 given manufacturers a year to remove pictorial representation of fruits on their packages if their products were synthetic flavours with less nutritional value.

The manufacturers have been using pictures of fresh fruit to lure customers when, in reality, the contents are imitations in flavour, colour and aroma of the fruit that appears on the package.

The manufacturers were given up to April 2009 to clear stocks that had been produced and adopt new labels with correct information on the content of their drinks.

Most of the juices found in the supermarket shelves contain ingredients that mimic the natural taste of fresh fruits.

Nutritionists have warned that some of the artificial ingredients interfere with the physical and mental development of human beings, especially children. Such ingredients have been banned in Scandinavia and America.

Food additives

The controversy over ingredients used in juices and other foods is not limited to developing countries like Kenya. In America, in recent years, there has been strong lobbying for companies to disclose in clear terms what exactly they use as food additives.

The most recent such debate is the use of carmine, which is extracted from dried and ground red beetles to produce bright red colour mainly used in yoghurt, ice cream and juice drinks.

The Centre for Science in the Public Interest has petitioned for the ban of carmine, which it says causes allergic reactions known as anaphylaxis said to cause shock.

As a minimum, the US body wants the product to be clearly labelled as red beetles, and companies to stop hiding under carmine.

Another ingredient that has caused concern is sodium nitrite that consumers mistake for salt.

Words like chocolate, bread, fruit juice, jam are protected by law in America. It’s interesting to learn how confusing it can get in the market place even in the world’s largest economy.

For example, a chocolate flavoured product does not qualify as chocolate, while fruit juice drink does not have as much fruit in it as the pure fruit drink and will have more sugars, sweeteners, colours and preservatives.

Strawberry yoghurt must have real straw berry in it, strawberry-flavoured has flavours made from strawberry, while straw berry flavour has absolutely no connection with the real fruit.