Five labs picked to certify city eateries
Eateries within Nairobi county will have to apply for food handlers’ medical certificates from only five laboratories, the government has announced.
In a public notice by the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS), only certificates from the five laboratories or generated from the Nairobi Revenue Services will be recognized. Facilities that will offer the certificates include: Mayfair Health Services Limited, Quality Plus Laboratory and Consultancy Services Ltd, MediTest Diagnostic Services Ltd, Corner House Laboratory and Jamhuri Medical & Laboratory Services Ltd.
Food handlers
“We wish to notify members of the public, food handlers, food-related businesses and industries that the following five laboratories have been pre-qualified to offer Medical Laboratory Testing for food handlers,” the notice reads.
He warned that only approved and NRS-generated Food Handlers Medical Certificates will be accepted for compliance. Nairobi county government had been on the spot for failing to test public food handlers for almost a year, despite collecting the requisite fees.
In 2019, Current finance chief officer who served in the health docket Mohamed Sahal said going digital will reduce the turnaround time by 50 per cent from payment, testing and certification of food handlers.
Sahal said the digitisation process was being powered by the National Bank in collaboration with the county.He said food handlers would be required to pay for the certificates online either through M-Pesa or other payment platforms. “When this programme is implemented, the turnaround time from payment, testing and certification of food handlers will be reduced by 50 percent,” he said.
In August the same year, Kenya Association of Manufacturers regional coordinator for Nairobi Robert Juma said no public food handler has been issued with a certificate of good health for almost a year. Tests are rarely done by public health officers.
He also faulted City Hall for its lack of capacity to test, rack and prove that someone has been tested. He added that the county government’s four licensed public laboratories capable of carrying out the testing are already overstretched.
