The elimination of consumer food subsidies associated with structural adjustment in Africa has been widely thought to exacerbate food insecurity for low-income consumers. This article determines how urban maize consumption and expenditure patterns have responded to the liberalization of the maize and maize meal markets in Kenya. The article decomposes changes in maize meal prices attributable to changes in maize grain prices and maize milling margins. Results are obtained through two random household surveys in Nairobi, the first having been conducted before and the second after liberalization. The main finding of the study is that maize market liberalization has conferred substantial benefits to urban consumers. The combined saving to Nairobi consumers from lower maize milling costs has been roughly US$10.1 million each year, about the same amount that the Government of Kenya allocates annually to agricultural research. Results also indicate that the former consumer subsidies conferred through the official marketing channel were untargeted and actually inversely related to household income. The subsidies on sifted meal also served to entrench a non-competitive market structure that inhibited the development of a lower-cost informal milling system. These findings are consistent with research results from other eastern and southern African countries showing that the negative effects of eliminating food subsidies in the state marketing system have been largely compensated by relaxing controls on private grain trade, which has increased consumers' access to less expensive grain products distributed through informal markets.