NSPs to educate food vendors on hygiene and best practices ahead of festive season

The National Service Persons (NSPs) working with the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) are embarking on an exercise to educate food vendors on hygiene and best practices ahead of the festive season, Mr Rodrick Daddey-Agyei, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in Charge of Food, has announced.

He said the NSPs are expected to visit eateries such as restaurants, chop bars and street food vendors to schedule them for inspection and certification.

“Some of the people selling along the roads do not know the right thing so, they will be educated to know what is expected of them, especially the use of potable water and a hygienic environment,” he added.

Speaking in an interview the Deputy CEO of the FDA, Mr Daddey- Agyei, urged the public to patronise restaurants that have certification and permits to operate, saying it was important for Ghanaians to help the FDA with necessary Information, to be able clump down on those without permits for them to do the right thing.

He said ” Food safety is everybody’s business, if you are assisting us and pointing out places that do not have hygiene permits it will help the FDA to take them on, ensure they do the right thing, and the benefit will be for the safety of everyone”.

“We consider the NSPs to be great assets because we have trained them and will be going round with authorised FDA personnel to sight and identify areas that do not have permits.

The FDA Deputy CEO urged the public to examine the integrity of products purchased on the market this festive season to ensure safety as expired products or bloated packages contain harmful substances and could affect people when consumed.

He said: “When you see a product that is bloated, please do not buy it, make sure you report to the nearest FDA office because a bloated product means there is a micro-biological contamination within the product which is producing gas and some of these products can kill people almost instantly”

“If you press and you hear what we call the tik tok sound, ‘ke ke ke’, be careful, there is an issue with it so please be on the lookout, look at the date markings, manufacturing and expiry dates, and batch number. Watch out for dented cans that have got burnt portions, be careful of cans that are rusted”

He added that, “we sometimes arrest people who had packaged low grade rice into nice bags to look authentic but remember, the FDA is your friend, if you find anyone guilty, please kindly inform the FDA and we will make sure we deal with the issues.

Mr Daddey-Agyei also warned the public not to be entertained by promotional products on the markets, as some of such products could have their expiry dates changed.

He also advised the public to check out for FDA hygiene permits at hotels, restaurants, kitchens, and fast-food joints. “The hygiene permits need to be displayed, if not, then those places may not be the right place to be, you eat there at your own risk.”