Food processing firms have been cautioned on improving packaging, processing and storage in order to keep their products fresh and appropriate for consumption.
Rwanda Bureau of Standards (RBS) says the prevailing inefficiencies in food processing, packaging and storage are bound to increase chances of mycotoxin contamination— chemical poisonous compounds produced by certain fungi that are capable of causing disease and death in humans and animals.
Dr.Mark Cyubahiro, the Director General of RBS, told Business Times that there is a high risk of contamination during processing, especially in small and medium food processors whose whole process chain is not automated.
According to scientists, there are many such compounds, but only a few of them are regularly found in food and animal feedstuffs such as grains and seeds.
In Rwanda the most affected crops include, maize, groundnuts, cassava, sorghum and millet Cyubahoiro says that total mitigation of mycotoxins will be viable if control measures are stretched throughout the value chain.
Dr Hilda Vasanthakaalam, the Head of Food Science and Technology department at Kigali Institute of Science and Technology, encouraged food processors to apply for quality, marks from RBS increase customer confidence.
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