Behavioural change key to food safety practices – FDA
This year’s World Food Day has been held in Accra with a call on Consumers and Food Business Operators to change behaviours that are inconsistent with food safety practices.
Mr John Odame Darkwah, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) said the change must include measures that would protect food from contamination as well as prevent the growth or survival of food borne pathogens by storing, handling and preparing food correctly.
Mr Darkwah announced that the FDA in line with this had developed a National Food Safety policy that would harmonise food safety regulations among government institutions.
He said it was therefore important that “we work to ensure that the goals of the policy were met through change of attitude on the part of consumers and food Business operators”.
Mr Darkwah also emphasised the need for stakeholders to maintain high level of cooperation by stakeholders to ensure food safety for those who would want to consume domestic or imported foods to do so in confidence.
The day laced with Food Safety Awareness Workshop for stakeholders on the Food chain (primary food producers, manufacturers and players in the hospitality business) was on the theme: “Climate is changing, food and agriculture must too, so must attitude towards food safety.”
The day attracted personnel from the Ghana Health Service, operators of food joints, farming associations among others.
Touching on the theme, Mr Darkwah noted that the depletion of the ozone layer had brought about certain environmentally hostile activities on mankind and that had resulted on unprecedented and unrestrained foods and other disasters.
According to him some of the effects had also resulted in poor crops and fish harvest with famine looming in several developing countries African countries.
“While climate change has been discussed in relation to agricultural production, crop yield, food security, increasing it is being recognised that climate change has substantial impact not only on food production more importantly the safety of food.”
According to Mr Darkwah there was evidence that climate change had direct impact on the occurrence of food safety hazards at various stages of food chain that was from primary production through to consumption.
Mr Darkwah observed that there was the emergence of new food pathogens; the challenges of maintenance to cold chain food preparation and storage, decreasing access to potable water were influencing the safety and quality of foods in the face of climate change.
He said it was no more secret that people had become passionate of the food eaten, noting that food safety and sustainability had also undergone a numbers of changes.
“It was therefore imperative that we also change our attitudes towards food safety and remain committed to sustainable initiatives needed to guarantee food security due to climate change.”
Mr Darkwah said that was why the FDA had taken upon its self to raise awareness on food adulteration on commodities including palm oil, pepper and alleged tomato powder sold in the country.
Mr Callistus Kyire, Quality Assurance Manager of Airways Catering Service Limited who chaired called on Ghanaians to be discipline and desist from calling the FDA names whenever it took actions to protect consumers.
Mr Kyire also entreated them to be agents of change and take up the responsibility to ensure food safety for themselves and their clients since food was very important in the lives of individuals, adding, “We need to eat to live and not to die.
Source: GNA