Fruit processors undergo training

A five-day capacity training workshop for fruit processing firms to implement the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control (HACCP), Environment, Health and Safety (ESH) programme has ended in Accra.

The training workshop was to provide technical assistance through training, document development, and coaching to beneficiary companies to adopt and implement food safety management systems based on the principles of HACCP and ESH.

The HACCP is a management system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product.

Mr Charles Kwame Sackey, Technical Advisor, German International’s Market Oriented Agriculture Programme, said the programme has supported processing and development of appropriate technologies and more suitable raw materials for processing.

He said the programme aims at assisting processors in the country to increase their competitiveness on the national, sub-regional and international markets through promoting value chains.

“It is also strengthening private sector institutions in the agricultural sector to strike the balance between guaranteeing a high level of food safety, environmental and consumer protection,” he added.

Mr Sackey said the training was also to assist the firms to enable them to implement the HACCP and other relevant food safety and quality management systems specification and standards in the industry.

Mr Seth Ayihi, Agricultural Manager of Pinora Limited, told the GNA that the workshop equipped participants with the skills to meet customer demand and improve on their production methods.

He said participants learnt how to apply personal hygiene and safety principles in their various companies and made them more conscious of their working environments.

“On safety, it will reduce the amount of compensations paid to staff in cases of accident at work,” he added.

Ms Mary Aka, an Occupation, Safety and Health Officer at Blue Skies Production Ghana Limited, said the workshop was a wake-up call to implement the HACCP.