1. Food Safety Management status in Red
meat abattoirs in Kenya.
Overview of 6 counties
Presentation by Dr. John Waweru Sealed Air Eastern and Southern Africa.
Prepared by George Nyamu, Land O Lakes KSALES project and Dr. John
Waweru, Sealed Air, KSALES project

2. KSALES Project
KSALES – Kenya Semi Arid Livestock Enhancement support project
A Land O lakes Project, Funded by USDA
Executed by Sealed Air ( Diversey Eastern and Central Africa
Limited) on behalf of Land O lakes in collaboration with County
governments of Tharaka Nithi, Meru, Kitui, Makueni, Machakos and
Taita Taveta

3. KSALES Project
Project has two strategic objectives namely;
1. Increase agricultural productivity
2. Expand trade of Agricultural products
The objectives will be achieved through implementation of the
following components namely ;
1. Facilitating Farmer field schools
2. Increasing access to clean Water systems
3. Developing Business service providers
4. Improving on farm and off farm infrastructure
5. Facilitating Agricultural lending
6. Providing training in Post harvest handling and processing
7. Developing the Business capacity of cooperatives and association
This presentation is based on the Post harvest handling component
findings

4. Background Information
Food safety
Assurance that food will not cause harm to the consumer when it is
prepared and/or eaten according to its intended use.
Legal requirement controlling this in the Red meat sector in Kenya
is the Meat Control regulations 2010. This was used in KSALES
project as a basis of assessment of the extent of compliance in a
total of 36 slaughter points in 6 counties of Kenya namely;
1. Tharaka Nithi
2. Meru
3. Kitui
4. Makueni
5. Machakos
6. Taita Taveta

5. Meat Control (Local Slaughterhouse )
Regulations 2010
Stipulates the legal requirements relating to
1. Slaughter house site and accessibility
2. Sanitation
3. Hygiene practices
4. conditions and facilities for meat inspection
5. Disposal of condemned carcasses and parts
6. Re - inspection of products and processes to be supervised
7. Marking and labeling of meat and meat containers
8. Records
9. Categorization of slaughter houses

6. Elements of a Food Safety
Management system

7. Food safety baseline determination
Hygiene Audits conducted on 36 slaughter houses in 6 counties.
Criteria used was Meat control regulations 2010
Findings are reported below;

8. Findings: Site Accessibility & Construction
County
# of
slaughter
houses
audited
# with at
least 80%
compliance
Tharaka Nithi 6 1
Meru 5 1
kitui 4 0
Makueni 6 1
Machakos 7 1
Taita Taveta 5 2
Site Accesibility and Construction

9. Findings: Site Accessibility & Construction
.Main issues of non compliance
1. Encroachment by residential houses and other
businesses
2. Slaughter house located next to the river
3. Inadequate facilities for bleeding in hanging
position
4. No lairages in most cases
5. Inadequate segregation of dirty from clean
processing areas
5. Lack of means of humane killing

10. Findings: Sanitation/Hygiene Practices
Sanitation
County
# of
slaughter
houses
audited
# with at
least 80%
compliance
Tharaka Nithi 6 0
Meru 5 0
kitui 4 0
Makueni 6 0
Machakos 7 0
Taita Taveta 5 0
Sanitation

11. Findings: Sanitation/Hygiene Practices
1. Lack of hot water or any other means of disinfection
2. Poor water supply in some slaughter houses
3. Unsatisfactory cleaning results
4. Lack of protective clothing
5. Offals are not identifiable with the carcass (in most cases
identifiable with the owner which is inadequate where one
has more than one carcass)
6. Lack of hand washing soap and dedicated hand washing
facilities/basins
7. Condemned parts pit not under lock and key in most
slaughter houses

12. Staff Competence
In all the audited slaughter houses no manager had attended the mandatory
certificate in Food hygiene management
Food handling staff had not attended the prescribed training in Food safety
twice a year

13. Lack/non use of protective
clothing

14. Flaying Techniques training

15. Opportunities and steps taken by
KSALES team and respective county
governments
1. Training of all workers in the meat value chain in relevant hygiene aspects
2. Workshop for slaughter house owners
3. Workshops with meat inspectors and supervising Veterinary Doctors to
refresh on the requirements of the meat control (local slaughterhouse)
regulations 2010
4. Linkages of business people in the chain with Financial institutions
5. Initiating county red meat chain stakeholders forums to address common
challenges

16. Challenges that require to be
addressed
1. Management of County government owned slaughter facilities is a challenge
and enforcement of the law is somewhat challenging
2. Low Kill/throughput undermines viability of most entities and their ability to
meet costs associated with compliance
4. Political interference in the enforcement of the law
5. Lack of food safety awareness among the consumers
6. Lack of enforcement of the slaughter houses categorization
6. Tools and equipment including knives,

17. Recommended Actions
1. Enforcement of the meat control regulations in all counties should be prioritized,
including categorization.
2. Although this is a devolved function, central government should retain Supervisory
control and should conduct periodic inspections and issue appropriate directives
where food safety violation is evident.
3. Following the devolvement of the function there is need for forums to sensitize
relevant county government departments on the essence meat inspection, disease
control, and food safety assurance beyond revenue generation.
4. Trade associations formation should be encouraged as a forum for discussing
industry concerns and also forum via which policies can be communicated to
members.
5. Investments in value addition including packaging to capture emerging middle class
consumers served in supermarket outlets