School Matrons urged to ensure hygienic practices

The Central Regional Director of the Food and Drugs Board, Mr. Joseph Bennie, has said the Board would not hesitate to “battle” matrons together with their kitchen staff who prepare school meals under unhygienic conditions.

The Board, he said, had observed that some school kitchens prepare meals under unhygienic conditions and that food-borne diseases could be reduced by 80% if washing of hands with soap among other good practices were adhered to.

At a day’s workshop on “hygiene, hand washing and the need for regular check-up for heads of kitchen staff in the second cycle institutions” in Cape Coast, Mr. Bennie said food cooked in schools must be hygienic from the kitchen to the dining hall

The Board would therefore carry out a rigorous monitoring exercise to check insanitary conditions in school kitchens and dining halls and ensure that those found culpable were punished to check the spread of communicable diseases among students.

The workshop was organized jointly by the Cape Coast Metropolitan Education Directorate and TOPP Medical Laboratory and attended by matrons in second cycle schools in the Metropolis who were educated in best practices in food preparation.

Mr. Bennie said the exercise would first target second cycle schools and would be extended to the basic schools and food vendor.

The Metro Health Director, Mr. Samuel Sosi, advised the kitchen staff to do regular check-ups to know their health status in order not to spread communicable diseases to innocent people.

The Manager of TOPP Medical Laboratory, Mr. Albert Moses, reiterated calls on matrons to undergo regular check-ups and appealed to kitchen heads to monitor their staff especially the pantry men in their daily duties and see to it that hygienic food was served to students.**