How safe is your food?

Many of us over the years may have tried to keep our food fairly safe and who won’t when cholera, several other diarrhoeal diseases, lifestyle diseases and even Ebola continue to torment us daily. However the boldest attempt to date to keep our food safe may be from April 7th 2015, which is World Health Day.

This year World Health Day focuses on FOOD SAFETY! The theme for the day and the year is “Food safety: from farm to plate, make food safe”.

Over 200 diseases are caused by unsafe food containing harmful bacteria, parasites, viruses and chemical substances. How safe is your food?

About 2 million deaths occur every year from contaminated food or drinking water. That is quite easy to grasp, don’t you think so? How safe is your food?

Is your meal loaded with bacteria or salt, oil and sugar or does it have a fair dose of toxic chemicals? What is in your meal? Where did the ingredients come from? Were they properly and safely handled from every stage, from plate to farm? The World Health Organization (WHO) is pushing for action in these areas and on World Health Day, WHO calls on producers, policy-makers and the public to promote food safety. How safe is your food?

There are several points where contamination of food may occur; the farm (chemicals and water among others), storage facilities, transportation, vendors and even with the consumers. Even when we do not contaminate the food directly, our poor hand washing culture may still lead to disease states.

WHO has developed FIVE KEYS to safer food and these are worth mastering;

1. Keep clean

2. Separate raw and cooked

3. Cook thoroughly

4. Keep food at safe temperatures

5. Use safe water and raw materials and I dare add a sixth

6. Read labels where necessary and avoid excess sugar, salt, oils and artificial sweeteners.

General Points to Master

• Together with policy makers, we all need to make food safety a priority.

• Think globally, act locally; after all food crosses international boundaries and what we do in our country may impact food safety in another country and vice versa.

• Inform yourself; read and understand food labels

• Handle, store and prepare food safely

o How safe is your kitchen for instance? The sponge, cutting surfaces, napkins may all be contaminated.

• Teach healthy practices to others

o Even when you take all the precautions, others may bring all your efforts to naught by feeding you with something that may cause you to become ill.

• Make wise choices

o Especially when preparing meals for children, pregnant woman, the elderly, sick and those with chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol.

Safe food is a must and we all have to work together to make it a reality. By asking yourself and friends HOW SAFE IS YOUR FOOD? whenever you meet, we will be on the path to helping all of us STOP. THINK and make wise decisions concerning our food.

This Easter as we celebrate the greatest show of LOVE ever, let us all bury our poor food safety practices and bring alive SAFE FOOD for a healthier and wealthier world.

AS ALWAYS LAUGH OFTEN, WALK AND PRAY EVERYDAY AND REMEMBER IT’S A PRICELESS GIFT TO KNOW YOUR NUMBERS (blood sugar, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, BMI)

Dr. Kojo Cobba Essel

Moms’ Health Club/Health Essentials

(dressel@healthclubsgh.com)

*Dr Essel is a medical doctor, holds an MBA and is ISSA certified in exercise therapy and fitness nutrition.

Thought for the week – “Food safety is an area of public health action to protect consumers. Unsafe food can lead to a range of health problems: diarrhoeal diseases, viral diseases, reproductive and developmental problems, lifestyle diseases and even cancers.”

References:

• WHO Bulletin

• WHO official website