By Stephen Asante
Accra, Jan.11, GNA – The Government should strive to sustain efforts at building the capacity of Ghanaian chefs on safe food supplies, the Chefs Association of Ghana has advised.
Chef Isaac Sackey, President of the Association, said providing support to deepen the knowledge of chefs on food allergies and poisoning was vital as the food industry expands.
“Urbanisation and changes in consumer habits have increased the number of people buying and eating food prepared in public places,” he told the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Accra, in an interview.
Food safety, nutrition and security were inextricably linked, he stated.
As such, food producers and handlers should constantly be abreast of modern trends in food sciences to stimulate good practices to ensure food safety.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that almost one in 10 people in the world fall ill after eating contaminated food, and 420, 000 die every year.
It says some US$110 billion is lost each year in productivity and medical expenses resulting from unsafe food in low and middle-income countries.
Chef Sackey told the GNA that, currently, some 350 chefs across the country had been selected to participate in a training workshop to build their capacity on food allergies and poisoning, as part of a national strategy to contribute to food and nutrition security.
He said the trainer-of-trainees workshop would tackle topics, including safe food handling, cross-contamination, and food safety, food poisoning and allergies, among others.
The Ghana Skills Development Fund is sponsoring the training programme, which is also aimed at enhancing professionalism in the work of Ghanaian chefs as the country continues to attract international tourists and other visitors.
“During the commemoration of the ‘Year of Return,’ the country recorded some incidence of consumers experiencing all kinds of allergies after being served dishes at some facilities.
“Consequently, the Association has found the need to upgrade the knowledge of its members to always be on the watch out as related to the dishes they serve customers,” he noted.
As the Ghanaian food industry expands, the authorities, as a matter of necessity, needed to enact a policy that would compel hospitality facilities in the country to serve a certain quota of local dishes at their facilities, the Association proposed.
This was critical to promoting local foods among the international community, Chef Sackey stated, stressing that, now, about 60 per cent of dishes served in Ghanaian hotels were of continental origin.
Also, about 80 per cent of the meat used in cooking meals at most hotels is also imported.
“As a country, we should leverage the growing tourism industry by passing a certain legislation that mandates hotels in the country to give substantial quotas to serving local dishes to customers.
“And that, there should be a certain percentage of continental food that our hospitality facilities can put out there.
“It will be interesting to see about 70 per cent or 80 per cent of our local foods being represented in our hotels. This will encourage farmers to grow more as there will be a high demand for local food products, thereby boosting the local economy,” Chef Sackey noted.
He explained that the hospitality industry was one sector which had shown resilience and steady growth, following the COVID-19 pandemic, which crippled most sectors of the Ghanaian economy.
Consequently, it is imperative that the Government resources the sector adequately for socio-economic development.
Meanwhile, Chef Michael Quainoo, an Executive Member of the Association, has advised chefs selected for the training programme to take the lessons seriously.
This will expose them to the emerging trends in the chef profession landscape for best practices in line with international standards.
GNA