By Prince Acquah
Cape Coast, March 04, GNA – Olam Agri, a leading agribusiness in Ghana, has reaffirmed its commitment to championing good public health by extending its initiative, “My Healthy Baker” to the Central Region.
More than 1,000 bakers and workers in the region will receive education in good health, safety, and sanitation practices, and undergo free health screening in a bid to enhance food safety standards in the baking industry.
The initiative, backed by the Central Regional Coordinating Council and the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), seeks to improve the welfare of the bakers and also protect the public against food-borne diseases.
Launching the programme in Cape Coast, Mr Soumya Saxena, Business Head, Olan Agri’s Grains Business, reiterated the company’s dedication to empowering professionals in the food industry with the relevant resources and knowledge to thrive.
He explained that the initiative had been expanded to benefit more than 7,000 bakers nationwide.
“The company will continue working closely with bakers, health professionals, and industry stakeholders to ensure the sustainability of this impactful initiative,” he assured.
Mr William Freeman Goku, Regional Environmental Health Officer entreated all bakers and food vendors to stick to sanitation protocols to ensure that the food was safe.
He further reminded the public to be cautious about what they consumed, particularly in the wake of the cholera outbreak which he warned was deadly.
Mr Goku expressed gratitude to Olam Agri for the initiative, indicating that it would help to ensure clean and safe environment for the production of bread and other flour based foods in Ghana.
Madam Francisca Anokye, the Central Regional Head of FDA, stressed the need for vendors to observe high standards of hygiene, cautioning that many sicknesses were caused by poor sanitation as well as food and water contamination.
She also entreated all bakers to document their recipes to maintain the quality of their products and sustain their businesses even in their absence.
Mr Richard Apaloo, Managing Consultant, Twentyth Consult, (rpt. Twentyth Consult) implementing partners for the programme, highlighted the impact of the initiative since it began in 2023 in Accra.
“The impact that we are seeing is very positive because we are beginning to see change in attitudes from within the bakeries,” he said.
Ten hygiene controllers have been assigned to go round every day to educate the bakers to ensure the standards were maintained, he noted.
GNA