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Tanzanian gov't allays fears of toxic maize in the market

Xinhua, August 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

Tanzanian authorities on Wednesday allayed public fears of maize contaminated with aflatoxins which were linked with the recent deaths of 14 people in Dodoma and Manyara Regions, saying the cereals had not come from the supply market chain.

Ummy Mwalimu, the Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Children and the Elderly, said the government was now working on how to "mop out" all the contaminated cereals from the affected districts.

"The contaminated maize is still within the households, but the government has directed people in the affected areas to stop using it and we are taking measures to ensure there is no further outbreak of food poisoning,'' the minister said in a statement.

To control the aflatoxins in the farm, an independent pharmacist based in Dar es Salaam, Sajjad Fazel suggested that crops in the fields could be protected from aflatoxins by deliberately introducing a non-toxic form of Aspergillus fungi, known as Aflasafe in the farms.

The National Food Reserve Agency had provided 100 tonnes of food to victims of food poisoning in Dodoma Region.

Mbazi Msuya, the Director of the Disaster Management section in the Prime Minister's Office, said his office in collaboration with the Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority would carry out a survey to establish the exact number of people affected.

The official number of people affected in the food poisoning crisis was 54. However, two more people from Kondoa district were rushed to hospital on Wednesday after being suspected of food poisoning.

News of the "food poison" crisis broke on June 13 in Chemba district in Dodoma region. It was reported that a family of nine people in Mwaikisabe village were affected before it spread out to surrounding areas, including Kondoa District.

Health Minister Mwalimu said on Monday that majority of the people affected by the aflatoxicosis died from liver failure and warned that many more people in the affected regions could be suffering from liver problems.

Aflatoxin is a naturally-occurring poison produced by a type of fungus known as Aspergillus flavus. People may be exposed to it by directly consuming contaminated crops or indirectly through meat products or milk, especially when the livestock meat has been fed with contaminated grains. Endit