PriMera Scientific Surgical Research and Practice (ISSN: 2836-0028)

Review Article

Volume 8 Issue 4

Food Fraud in Kenya: Public Health Implications, Regulatory Challenges and Emerging Food-Integrity Priorities

Patrisio Njiru Njeru*

October 09, 2026

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Abstract

Food fraud is commonly treated as an economic or labelling offence, although an economically motivated act can create an unanticipated food-safety hazard. This Mini Review examines the emerging food-fraud evidence relevant to Kenya, the pathways through which fraud threatens health and traceability, and the implications of the Food and Feed Safety Control Co-ordination Act, 2026. Kenyan studies have documented milk dilution and inhibitory substances, as well as species substitution in the meat value chain. Additional vulnerabilities affect alcoholic beverages, honey, edible oils, spices, coffee, cereals, fortified foods and packaged products, but nationally representative prevalence data remain scarce. Three controversies shape the field: whether fraud should be governed principally as food safety or economic crime; whether informal markets are uniquely vulnerable or merely more visible; and whether digital traceability and artificial intelligence can prevent fraud without verified physical testing. Kenya's new coordination framework provides an institutional opportunity, but coordination alone will not deliver food authenticity. Priority gaps include the absence of a national incident database, limited denominator-based surveillance, uneven authenticity-testing capacity, weak integration of commercial intelligence with public-health data, and inadequate measurement of economic burden. Future development should combine vulnerability assessment, intelligence-led sampling, tiered analytical methods, interoperable traceability, protected reporting and transparent risk communication. Kenya should therefore govern food fraud as a food-integrity problem at the intersection of public health, consumer protection and economic crime.

Keywords: food fraud; food integrity; economically motivated adulteration; food safety; traceability; Kenya; public health; regulation

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