With the recent activities happening at Al-jabri Butchery in Nakuru and the probe launched into indomie by KEBS, it is easy to wonder whether or not food retailers in Kenya care about what their clients eat or are more focused on making a profit.
We believe that retail outlets play an essential role in upholding and enforcing measures to ensure food safety. Here at Greenspoon, we go the extra mile to control our entire supply chain to prevent incidents like this.
What is food safety, and why is it important?
Food safety essentially refers to preventative practices related to food handling, processing, receiving, storage, or distribution. Why is it important? Well, it ensures the health and safety of consumers are protected from any foodborne illnesses.
Foodborne illnesses
Foodborne illnesses are usually caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemical substances that enter the body once you consume contaminated food. They are toxic and harmful to the body and can result in acute poisoning, long-term illnesses such as cancer, and in extreme cases, death. This is why we have enforced strategic steps to ensure the freshness and safe handling of food, as it is our top priority.
What exactly is Greenspoon doing to guarantee food safety?
Storage
- We have set up controls right from our receiving bay to ensure that every product brought to the warehouse is of the highest quality
- Products have designated storage areas to avoid mixing them up. We have a dry goods section, freezers for frozen items like meat, and chillers for highly perishable products like leafy greens, fruits, milk, and craft beer. We are also keen on proper temperature management; our freezers are usually about -11ËšC while our chillers stand at 2ËšC. We check these temperatures regularly throughout the day, and keep records.
- We ensure that packaging is intact and free from rips or tears.Â
Properly stored food helps prevent food waste and contamination. It helps prevent foodborne illnesses caused by harmful bacteria. To avert cross-contamination, seafood like fish and prawns have their dedicated freezer.
 Food Handling
Our staff is trained on safe handling procedures to prevent cross-contamination. They maintain proper sanitary standards and are always in protective gear while working! We always keep an eye out for unsafe and unsanitary food processing and preparation methods.Â
What we’d love to see is more support for Electric Vehicles, with greater infrastructure around the country to make this happening (charging stations being absolutely key!)
 Traceability and transparency
We work with suppliers who are keen to produce fresh, quality and authentic products like Winnie’s Pure Health Ugali that is free from chemicals, additives,
and aflatoxins! Our vegetables from Mlango Farm are harvested early morning for delivery on the same-day.
Our website contains a supplier page with all the information our customers find helpful – we want you to know what you’re eating, where it’s from, and how it’s grown! We also list down all the ingredients used for processed food. Most of our products have no additives, artificial flavors, or preservatives!
We believe that everyone involved in the supply chain, from producers and manufacturers to the customer, has a part in ensuring food safety. We look forward to a future where each individual is keen to enforce preventive measures and avoid food safety hazards.
Please feel free to contact us at any stage if you have any questions.
