By Philip Tengzu
Wa, (UW/R), July 13, GNA – The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has observed this year’s Food Safety Day with a durbar at the Wa Central Market to drum home the need for the traders and consumers to prioritise food safety over profit.
The event was also held with the students and staff of the Wa Technical Institute to propagate the importance of food safety and food safety practices in ensuring healthier lives.
While urging the traders to observe food safety practices such as selling food items on raised platforms, the FDA also entreated consumers to ensure that any food item they bought or consumed was wholesome.
Speaking at the durbar, Ms. Jocelyn Adeline Egyakwa Amusah, the Head of Safety Coordination and Consumer Education Department of the FDA, urged actors in the food value chain to contribute to ensuring that every food consumed was wholesome.
She emphasised the need for producers, transporters, sellers, and consumers to handle food safely, saying “Food safety is everybody’s business.”
“When you come to the market to buy food, make sure you are buying wholesome products, do not buy rotten products because safe food begins from the raw materials. If it is not safe, then it is not food,” Ms. Amusah explained.
The FDA organised the event with support from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on the theme, “Food Safety: Science in Action.”
Commenting on the theme, Ms. Amusah explained that “Everything we do with our food is based on science, therefore, let us practice these things well to ensure our food is safe.”
Mr Ishmael Albert Viala, Finance Assistant at the FAO, said the FAO was mandated to, among other things, reduce hunger to the barest minimum, stressing that food security was paramount to the Organisation.
He explained that as food was a requirement for human growth and development, there was the need to ensure safety of food at all stages, including its preparation to guarantee the consumption of healthy food to reduce hunger.
Alhaji Nurah Issah Danwana, the Wa Municipal Chief Executive, reiterated the importance of safe food handling to ensure healthy lives saying, “Our health is our future, everything depends on how we handle our food stuff.”
He expressed gratitude to the FDA for holding the event in Wa, which would help to inform and remind the public of food safety practices to promote healthy living.
Mr Kelvin Dafaari Sunkpal, the Upper West Regional Head of the FDA, appealed to the traders to take steps to maintain the safety of food they sold to consumers as their actions and inaction could affect the safety of the food.
He indicated the FDA’s resolve to put in place measures within its remit to ensure that every food the public consumed was safe and wholesome.
Representatives from the Environmental Health and Sanitation Department among other stakeholders also participated in the Food Safety Day celebration in Wa.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali/Kenneth Odeng Adade