Reviewed law on meat inspection

Accra, July 22, GNA - Dr Osei-Agemang Bonsu, officer in-charge of Public Health, Greater Accra Region, on Tuesday called for a review of the laws on food safety and quality standards. He said the law concerning the inspection of meat for instance had not been reviewed nor updated since 1962 thus making inapplicable in the present time. "If we do not upgrade our laws, we cannot achieve food safety nor quality within the long chain that the food industry finds itself in present time," Dr Bonsu said.

Dr Bonsu, who was speaking at a day's stakeholders' meeting on Food Safety said the fact that Ghanaians over cooked their food should not be enough consolation that the foods were free from contamination with regards to the large number of fast food joints springing up. He said whilst food safety was meant ensuring that the food was safe to eat, food quality on the other hand was involves ensuring that the food was nutritious and acceptable by all standards. "To ensure food safety, good policies including food laws and bye-laws concerning food right from the farm, through distribution and marketing were needed," Dr Bonsu, said. He called for the institution of a body that would ensure that any food that came to the table was safe and of quality.

Dr Ebenezer Barnor, Regional Director, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, whose speech was read on his behalf, said the problem with food safety in Ghana was that of lack of collaboration among the Ministries, Agencies and Department (MDAs). "There are over 10 MDAs, whose role either in part or full, is to ensure food safety but there has always been the problem of overlapping roles or duplication of efforts of other agencies," he said.

Dr Barnor said to ensure the safety of foods, there was the need for a strong and credible system to be put in place that would identify the risk, take action to eliminate or reduce it. The catchword for the meeting he noted should be collaboration and not competition. Mrs Rosanna Agble, Chief Nutrition Officer of the Ghana Health Service, said contaminated food did not only affect the health of individuals, but had repercussions on the economy as a whole.