PICTURES: Look At This Joke Of A Milk Dairy In Bungoma County Years After The Governor's Campaign Promise To Revive It In Within 100 Days

You'll be hard pressed to find a Governor (then aspiring) whose announcement to seek elective office excited the people as that of a former District Officer who rose the ranks of civil service permanent secretary in the Ministry of Livestock & Fisheries.

Not only did Kenneth Makelo Lusaka pull the stops in a grand entry into Bungoma town; backed with his credentials in government, unlike the other candidates he had a plausible plan. A plan that among other development initiatives, promised the revival of Kitinda Dairies and Creamery. 

Quite an irony it is that on that day as candidate Ken Lusaka made his way into Bungoma town along the Bungoma-Mumias road, his dancing troupe of supporters passed by Kitinda Dairies and Creameries just outside Bungoma town center. 

Candidate Lusaka must have picked on the derelict milk processor given its symbolism: Unlocking its closed doors would herald a new dawn for the Mulembe people of Bungoma as standing there in its shame; Kitinda Dairies and Creameries reminded a proud people of a proud past where milk flowed, sugarcane paid and Webuye Pan Paper mills roared on. 

My brothers in Bungoma must have felt: "If this is devolution, then lets do this"

But it's never that simple. I mean you can easily do with the painting and clearing of bushes and launching, but there are those small details that make the difference between fire the fuel and fire the destroyer. Things like HACCP

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) is described by the  U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a systemic approach in identifying, evaluating and controlling food safety hazards. The FDA defines food hazards as biological, physical or chemical agents that are reasonably likely to cause disease or imjuty in the absence of control.

HACCP is a PREVENTIVE approach to food safety. The images below have been trending on a popular Bungoma based Facebook group. They will leave you wondering if the Ken Lusaka led county government has done Kitinda Dairies and Creamery any justice.

Worse still, if the end result of such callousness comes in the form of a public health nightmare- as milk with the water, sugar, protein and minerals is a perfect medium for bacteria- it's potentially calamitous. That's why since 1908 we've understood why/how milk easily goes bad easily. That's why it's important to HACCP milk handling. 

The Plastic Measuring Cups

The use of plastic in food handling has come under recent scrutiny with concerns of BPA (bisphenol A alters hormone balance in the body leading to diabetes, liver problems and reproductive problems in laboratory rat models ) contamination through leeching (bits of plastic transfered into our food).  

 

PVC plastics also potentially expose one to phthalates which also alter hormone balance especially tetesterone and other organ damage in animal models. Phthalates lead to low sperm count and birth of baby boys with physical anomlaies( short distance between scrotum and anus.

We all would love to see 'non-carcinogenic' metallic measuring costing less than 100,000 each for Kitinda Dairies and Creameries in Kanduyi sub-county. But as we wait, it would be wise to heed the advice of authoritative health information website WebMD on reducing the consumption of Bisphenol A

• Eat less canned food, and more frozen or fresh food. In addition to avoiding BPA, you'll also get more nutrients and less sodium -- both steps toward a healthier diet.
• Breastfeed  your baby, or use powdered formula instead of cans.
• Avoid bottles and plastic containers that are made from polycarbonate (usually marked with a number 7 or the letters PC) and if you want to reduce exposure to phthalates, avoid polyvinyl chloride (marked with a number 3 or PVC).

Pasteurization 

The Good: Looks like a local invention. Supporting cottage (juakali) indurstries.

The Ugly: Firewood= possibility of environmental degradation; besides, long term use of wood fuel through exposure to smoke could lead to chronic (meaning life long) lung disease known as Congestive Pulmonary Obstructive Disease (COPD). The worker (blacked out to protect identity) doesn't have protective clothing thus the possibility of even human hair finding it's way into the milk.

 

Milk Pasteurization in Kitinda Dairies and Creameries.

Cooling Plants?

Even a class six pupil knows that this is wrong on so many levels. Once again, the image is selectively blurred to protect identities

'Coolants' at Kitinda Dairies and Creamaries