The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has sensitised the public and market women at the Ashaiman under-bridge market on food safety precautions ahead of the Christmas festivities.
The exercise, which is held annually, was aimed at creating awareness and educating the public on food safety consumption to prevent food poisoning and other food-borne diseases during and after the festive season.
Mrs Jocelyn Adeline Naa Egyakwa-Amusah, the Head, Food Safety and Consumer Education Department of the FDA, told the Ghana New Agency (GNA) that the programme was held annually at different markets to educate the public on food safety and empower them to speak against bad food practices.
She noted that during festive seasons, a lot of raw and packaged food flooded the market; hence, the need to educate the public to be more vigilant in their choice of products.
She urged consumers to take into consideration the expiry date of products, the nature of the package material, and even the environment in which the product was being sold.
Mrs Egyakwa-Amusah further cautioned consumers against patronising rotten or bruised food just because it was cheap, explaining that once a fruit was bruised, it opened for microbial activities, adding that it is difficult to know the pathogen that had invaded the food.
She added that some microorganisms, especially toxins, did not die when cooked and could still cause food poisoning no matter the amount of heat applied to the food.
Mrs Egyakwa-Amusah further asked the public to prioritise their health by buying from a hygienic environment to prevent food poisoning instead of saying that “the bigger the gutter, the nicer the waakye.”
She said that a lot of rodents and insects were found in these gutters, adding that such rodents were drawn closer to the food particles, making the food very poisonous for human consumption.
Officials of the FDA, during the sensitisation, advised food vendors to wash their hands with soap under running water before serving food and after visiting the washroom.
Responding to questions from the traders, the officials cautioned the market women against buying medicines from unauthorised persons who walked in the market to sell.
She explained that it was important for medicine to be stored in a cool, dry place to ensure that the chemicals used in its manufacturing stayed active; however, when these medicines are sold in the sun, those chemicals react with the sun and make the medicine inactive and unsafe for consumption.
The public was further urged to prioritise their health and desist from activities that would cause illnesses.
The FDA officials also pleaded with them to contact FDA on 0551112224 to report any activities that were detrimental to their health.
GNA