Food processors warned over poor packaging

Rwanda Bureau of Standards (RBS) has warned food processing firms to improve their packaging, processing and storage in order to keep their products fresh and appropriate for consumption.The standards body says the prevailing inefficiencies in food processing, packaging and storage are bound to increase chances of mycotoxin contamination—poisonous chemical 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.“These are critical areas to look at in mitigating mycotoxin contamination because most upcoming SMEs are doing their packaging manually, which exposes their products to contamination,” he said during a recent workshop aimed at to sensitising stakeholders on the dangers of mycotoxins.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.“Fighting mycotoxins requires everyone who is involved in the value chain and more critically at post harvest time,” he said.Reducing such contamination is also vital for increasing the country’s food exports and bridging the trade deficit. Agricultural produce make up the biggest fraction of Rwanda’s exports.“The whole country can be blacklisted in case exporters export food products that contain mycotixins,” he explained.This, he said, may lead to loss of foreign markets as well as deterioration of national reputation.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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Food processors warned over poor packaging