A dairy farmer, Agnes Wangari Wanyaga, milking a cow at her Giachumi home in Githunguri, Kiambu County on August 4, 2026.

📋 Breaking It Down

Due to the reduction of packed milk countrywide as a result of drought, fears are rife that unscrupulous traders are seeking to plug the gap by adulterating the product to increase volumes.

On Thursday, the Kenya Dairy Board (KDB) warned traders against lacing milk with water, chemicals or other substances, urging consumers not to buy unpasteurised milk from unregulated traders.

KDB Chairman Genesio Mugo said those caught selling adulterated milk would face the law. Kenya’s Dairy Produce Safety Regulations define adulteration as adding or subtracting a substance so that milk’s natural composition and quality are negatively affected.

📌 What You Need to Know

The guidelines prohibit selling adulterated or misbranded dairy produce. Offenders face a fine of up to Sh10,000 or imprisonment for up to 12 months, or both.

Mr Alex Gathii Gitonga, founder and managing director of Tanolope Consultancy Limited, a firm that targets improving dairy farming in Kenya and other African countries, said adulteration entails changing milk’s natural composition.

“When you adulterate milk, it will behave in funny ways. It will change the boiling point, it will change the colour, it will change the way it tastes,” said Mr Gitonga, adding that consumers may notice an unusual smell, colour, taste or thickness. Milk containing peroxide, he said, may taste unusually acidic or produce a burning sensation. Unscrupulous traders add hydrogen peroxide to prolong milk’s shelf life.

Amid the adulteration conversation, Mr Gitonga said the current milk shortage opens a window into the problems plaguing Kenya’s livestock sector.

State Department for Livestock Development Principal Secretary Jonathan Mueke (centre) with Kenya Dairy Board Chairman Genesio Mugo (left) and Kenya Dairy Processors Association (KDPA) Chairman Kenneth Gitonga address journalists on the current milk supply situation in the country at Kilimo House, Nairobi, on September 3, 2026.

According to KDB, formal deliveries to processors fell from 88.89 million litres in May to 84.44 million litres in June, and June’s intake was 6.4 per cent below the same month of 2025. In July, processors received 84.4 million litres in June to 81.3 million litres, a 3.7 per cent decline, and preliminary August figures pointed to a further fall.

📰 Source: Nation Africa