When product safety fails our consumers, the markets fail too

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In today’s interconnected marketplace, consumer confidence is the cornerstone of economic growth. Yet, that confidence is fragile, built on the assumption that products in the marketplace are safe, reliable, and compliant with set standards.

When this trust is broken, the consequences ripple far beyond individual households, eroding faith in products and services, regulators, and industries. Safety is not optional; it is enshrined under Article 46 of the Constitution, which provides that consumers have a right to protection of their health, safety, and economic interests. Every consumer deserves assurance that their food and medicine, or electronics, meet rigorous safety standards.

Unfortunately, that reality sometimes falls short of this aspiration. From counterfeited mobile handsets to contaminated food supplies, unsafe products continue to infiltrate markets, exposing consumers to harm and undermining public trust. Indeed, there are efforts by various stakeholders, including Government agencies, to correct this situation. But denying the existence of an issue would be burying our collective heads in the sand. For starters, manufacturers of various goods must provide the necessary information to consumers, empowering them to make informed purchasing decisions. Product labels must be compliant with the prescribed national standards. The information provided should be accurate.

A non-negotiable when it comes to consumables, for instance, is providing the manufacturing and expiry dates, as well as a list of the product ingredients. The Competition Authority of Kenya is mandated under the Competition Act to investigate false or misleading representations by businesses and sanction entities selling unsafe, defective, and unsuitable goods. The Authority has intervened in various sectors, including bread manufacturing, where it sanctioned players playing dice with jargon, confusing consumers about best before, expiry, and sell-by dates. Clarity about whether a product is good or not for consumption should not be a matter of linguistics.

Similarly, the Authority has penalised juice manufacturers for depicting that their products were extracted from fresh fruits. Scientific tests undertaken in collaboration with the Kenya Bureau of Standards revealed that the products were primarily produced using concentrates, a truth a lay person would not immediately decipher once they saw the images of mouth-watering fruits juxtaposed with the label “100% fruit”.

The CAK has also facilitated the recall of unsafe goods, including beauty products, LPG cylinder pipes, motor vehicle airbags, medication, television power boards and stands, among other commonly used products. However, we concede that the desired outcome on the safety of products and promotion of consumer confidence is a shared responsibility. Manufacturers must prioritise quality, embedding safety into every production stage. Regulators should collaborate to enforce standards with transparency and vigor, ensuring that compliance is not a checkbox but a culture. And consumers themselves must become informed advocates, demanding accountability and refusing to settle for less.

For this reason, we join the global community in commemorating the World Consumer Rights Day, marked annually on 15th March. The day advocates for the protection and promotion of consumers’ fundamental rights while challenging unethical market practices. This year’s theme, “Safe Products, Confident Consumers,” is a timely clarion call to producers of goods and key stakeholders in the value chain to play their part in enhancing accountability and trust.

 Writer is Director-General, CAK

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