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High demand to blame for fake banana drinks in Rwanda

Monday January 16 2017
banana

A man prepares traditional beer out of bananas. PHOTO | FILE

The growing demand of banana juice and other unprocessed alcoholic beverages amid shortage of raw materials is leading to higher rates of adulteration, according to the Association of Banana Juice and Alcoholic Beverages Makers.

The association blames a government policy that emphasises cultivation of cooking bananas over other types for their woes.

The association adds that good banana juice can only be extracted from specific sub-types of the crop such as Kainja, Gisubi, Imbihire, Intuntu.

“Sub-standard products started becoming more prevalent after the government rule that favours edible bananas. The resulting shortage is what is fuelling adulteration,” Juvenal Ndayisaba, the executive officer of the banana association told Rwanda Today. 

The makers’ records show that more than 4.59 million bottles of informal beverages were produced by its members excluding supplies by bootleg producers.

Apart from the raw materials shortage, Ndayisaba says most of the juice and alcoholic beverage makers were putting substandard products on the market for lack of capital to invest in equipment that would help them monitor the quality and safety levels of their products. 

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Only four beverage makers out of 350 in the country have the Rwanda Standards Board’s quality mark.  The association has so far registered 50 beverage makers working formally.

The Rwanda Standards Board was recently quoted saying these illegally produced beverages were found to contain potentially dangerous levels of alcohol.

There have also been reports of adulteration with other drugs such as tobacco in an effort to give the drinks more punch.  

Director General of the National Industrial Research and Development Agency (NIRDA) Dr Joseph Mungarulire said the country is flooded with unhealthy beverages but the government was reviewing the policy that restricts cultivation to only cooking bananas.

“There is a joint effort in regard with sustainability of banana nourishing for beverage makers, “said Mungarulire.

It is estimated that 89 per cent of beverages on the Rwandan market are either brewed through unregulated traditional means or are illegally sold.