UNBS cautions Lango traders against unsafe food handling
Grain Millers together with UNBS staff posing for a photo after the meeting at Gracious Palace Hotel in Lira
By Patrick Okino
The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has cautioned traders and local leaders in the Lango Sub-region against unsafe handling of food products especially packaged cooking oil and grain products.
The UNBS Standard Development Department, Richard Ebong also raised concerns over rampant afflatoxin contamination in maize which prompted Kenya and South Sudan to reject Ugandan maize a year ago.
Speaking to grain millers at Gracious Palace Hotel in Lira City on Tuesday, Ebong said UNBS had deployed teams countrywide to inspect mills, close non-compliant facilities and train processors on proper grain handling, hygiene and certification requirements.
He added that Lira was prioritized because much of the rejected maize had originated from the broader region.
“That is the reason why we came to have a training on the certification process for the maize grain and the maize mill which is produced here,” he said.
He explained that certification for food processors is mandatory and location-specific, noting that milling machines themselves can become contamination sources. “Food must be safe—whether it is being eaten by a villager, a trader or the president,” he said.
Ebong encouraged producers to form associations to support self-regulation and improve record-keeping, especially tracking raw material sources, reaffirming UNBS’s commitment to helping micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) meet quality standards, access export markets and align with Uganda’s National Development Plan IV.
The grain millers raised concern over food items sold in open markets, including cooking oil displayed in used plastic bottles along roadsides, wondering whether or not such products remain safe for consumption.
Ebong said such exposure may cause chemical reactions that compromise safety and taste.
He noted that poor handling practices persist despite existing regulatory frameworks, and called on Health inspectors and local governments to take a more active role in ensuring proper market conditions and enforcing hygiene standards.
Klaus Turayebingoha, UNBS Certification Officer encouraged grain millers to ensure proper hygiene standards and to shift to calibrated digital weighing scales, arguing that volume-based measurements are unreliable due to differences in product density.
Morris Chris Ongom, Director of the Lira and Lango Chamber of Commerce, urged local governments to take responsibility for ensuring that traders operate in proper, designated markets.
He said many vendors sell food in unsafe roadside environments—not out of negligence but due to lack of viable alternatives.
Ongom warned that poor handling of food products such as cooking oil exposes consumers to long-term health risks.
He encouraged business owners to take advantage of training opportunities offered by government agencies, including upcoming sessions with the Bank of Uganda and others.
