Food vendors in Kumasi trained on safe handling of food

Kumasi, Aug. 26, GNA - A two-day training workshop designed to enhance food safety in the Kumasi Metropolis has ended with a call on food vendors to ensure that they operated strictly under healthy and hygienic conditions.

Mr Eric Brobbey, Vice Rector of the Kumasi Polytechnic, said it should not be lost on anyone that safe handling of food could significantly help to reduce diseases in the country. Held under the theme "Safe Food, Health Citizens", the workshop was organized by the Environmental Health Department of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) in collaboration with the Ghana Tourist Board (GTB), the Food and Drugs Board and the Polytechnic's Department of Hotel, Catering and Institutional Management (DHCIM). Attending were restaurant operators, chop bar keepers and other cooked food sellers.

Mr Brobbey counselled them to observe best practices by always wearing clean outer garment and effective hair restraint. The Ashanti Regional Head of the Ghana Tourist Board, Mr Anane Nsiah, said food, if not handled well, "could be a weapon of mass destruction." He said they should let the health of food consumers take precedence over the quest for money. 27 Aug 09