By Samira Larbie, GNA
Accra, Oct. 11, GNA – The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has urged food vendors, traders and consumers to prioritise food safety practices to reduce foodborne illnesses and protect public health.
At a market durbar on Friday, organised by the FDA at Mallam Atta Market in Accra, Mrs Maureen Lartey, the Director of Food Safety and Consumer Education at the FDA, encouraged the traders to adopt safe practices.
She said the Authority had sustained its consumer education and food safety engagements at the market over the years to ensure traders prioritised food safety practices to safeguard public health.
The programme, which formed part of activities to mark the World Food Safety Day, brought together market women, food vendors and other stakeholders to educate them on proper food handling, environmental and personal hygiene.
It also sensitised the gathering on prepackaged foods, food adulteration and the prevention and management of food poisoning.
Mrs Lartey said the Mallam Atta Market was selected because it recorded a 100 per cent pass rate in palm oil screening conducted by the FDA in 2014 and 2015.
The achievement, she said, was worth recognising and sustaining, while encouraging traders to improve other aspects of food safety.
Mrs Lartey indicated that although the market had made progress, there was still room for improvement, particularly in maintaining proper hygiene and preventing food adulteration.
She cited concerns about the adulteration of food products, including the addition of flour to peanut butter and the use of coconut oil and yeast in some food products and beverages.
She said the FDA was intensifying surveillance and education, particularly within the informal food sector, where many food safety challenges occurred.
The Authority worked closely with environmental health officers under local authorities, who had primary responsibility for sanitation and environmental health monitoring at markets, Mrs Lartey said, and pledged the FDA’s commitment to collaborating with relevant agencies to ensure traders understood and complied with food safety requirements.
The Director urged food handlers to observe the five keys to safer food: keeping clean; separating raw food from cooked food; cooking and reheating food thoroughly; keeping hot foods hot and cold foods cold; and using safe ingredients and buying food from safe sources.
She explained that raw and cooked foods should be stored separately to prevent cross-contamination, particularly when liquids from raw products came into contact with ready-to-eat foods.
She also advised traders to maintain appropriate temperatures for hot and cold foods and ensure that leftovers were reheated thoroughly before consumption.
Mrs Lartey stressed the importance of purchasing ingredients from safe and reliable sources, warning that unsafe raw materials could expose consumers to harmful substances, including excessive pesticide residues.
“Food safety is everybody’s business. The farmers have their part to play, those who transport the food have their part, the marketers have theirs, consumers have theirs, and we, the regulators, also have ours,” she said.
She added that safe food contributed to good health and could help reduce the burden of foodborne diseases.
Mr Roderick Kwabena Daddey-Adjei, Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of the Food Division of the FDA, highlighted the importance of salt iodisation in protecting public health, particularly children’s development.
He explained that iodine deficiency could impair children’s cognitive development and contribute to other health complications, making the addition of iodine to salt an important public health intervention.
Mr Daddey-Adjei said Ghana adopted the Universal Salt Iodisation strategy in 1996 and that the FDA continued to monitor compliance by salt producers and traders.
He said the FDA demonstrated how to test salt at the market using a test kit that turned blue-black in the presence of iodine.
He urged traders to ensure that all salt sold to consumers was properly iodised, warning that selling non-iodised salt contravened applicable requirements.
Mr Daddey-Adjei commended the market for the improvement in its palm oil screening results and the positive outcome of the salt testing conducted during the engagement.
He encouraged traders to maintain good hygiene by displaying food items on clean tables rather than on the floor and keeping their surroundings clean.
He also urged consumers to support food safety efforts by buying food from clean and safe environments, washing their hands before eating and handling purchased food appropriately to prevent spoilage.
Madam Akweley, Queen Mother of Mallam Atta Market, expressed gratitude to the FDA for bringing the education to the market.
She urged traders to apply the lessons learnt and share the information with others to ensure that food sold at the market was safe for consumption.
She said the collective commitment of traders and consumers was necessary to sustain improvements in food hygiene and protect public health.
The FDA reiterated that ensuring food safety required cooperation among farmers, food processors, transporters, traders, consumers and regulatory institutions to guarantee that food produced, sold and consumed in Ghana was safe.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
11 Oct. 2026
Reporter: Samira Larbie