The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) has approved two new standards that will guide quality and safety requirements for hermetic bags for the storage of grains.
This means that the bags will be used as woven polypropylene bags and rigid plastic silos to store dried foods commodities, derived products and seeds without the use of pesticides as a preservative in storage.
The two approved standards are KS EAS 985-1:2020 Hermetic storage bags – Specification – Part 1; Woven polypropylene outer bag and KS EAS 986:2020 Portable rigid plastic hermetic grain silo – Specification.
“As part of our contribution to food security, these standards will go a long way in ensuring that grains and cereals are effectively protected from infestation and moisture loss, thereby, reducing post-harvest loss,” said Lt. Col (Rtd.) Benard Njiraini, Managing Director of KEBS.
Hemetic bags are air-tight bags that prevent air or water from penetrating the grains stored in them.
The new standards ensure that these bags preserve the contents while restricting the existence of cereal pests by depleting oxygen supply level producing carbon dioxide.
Requirements for the outer bag and hermetic liner include and are not limited to breaking force of the sacking, water vapour transmission rate (WVTR), oxygen transmission rate (OTR), packaging and labeling among others.
