The Food and Drugs Authority on Monday held a food safety education seminar for market women at Sege, capital of the Ada West District in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana to posthumously mark this year’s World Food Safety Day (WFSD) which fell on June 7.
The one-day workshop aimed at educating the market women on safety precautions, healthy practices, to identify and help prevent and manage foodborne risks took place at the Sege Market and was graced by the District Chief Executive for Ada West, Hon. Sampson Tetteh Kpankpah.
An official of the Food Safety and Consumer Education Directorate of the FDA. tutoring the market women at Sege
Held under the theme, ‘Food Standards Save Lives,’ the FDA officials led by Deputy Chief Executive (Food Directorate), Roderick Daddey-Adjei took time to explain the effects of food hygiene, environmental hygiene, salt iodisation, street food and breastfeeding to the market women.
“Food is the most essential thing needed by the human body so it is very important we eat very healthy,” said Madam Faustina Atupra of the Food Safety and Consumer Education Directorate of the FDA.
“The market is where we buy food so keeping it healthy and selling clean and disease-free food should be our priority. We hope the lessons taught today by our experts will instill a healthy lifestyle in all market women here,” she added in her address.
In it’s 5th year, the WFSD is targeted at raising awareness about the importance of prevention, detection, and management of risks through food safety practices, promoting debates, solutions, and ways to improve human health, trade, agriculture, and sustainable development.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), this year’s theme consonants with the WFSD slogan, “food safety is everyone’s business” because standards not only provide farmers and processors with guidance on the hygienic handling of food, but also define maximum levels of additives and contaminants, among other components, that can be safely consumed.
DCE for Ada West, Hon. Sampson Kpankpah presents prize to winner of Food Safety Education pop-up quiz for the participants, one Madam Juliana
Aside tutoring the Sege Market women on the rudiments of healthy living, the FDA also had special incentives to reward those who could show they had really imbibed what had been taught all day long.
A special quiz was organised at the end of the tutorials, superintended by the Ada West DCE, Hon. Kpankpah which saw one Madam Juliana emerging tops over two others in the final, with all receiving lucrative awards.
The DCE expressed how excited they were to meet the demands of their constituents for market since the town became a district capital in 2012 when they opened the Sege Market last year, and cautioned on the need to maintain healthy standards especially regarding food which is very essential to the human body.
Hon. Sampson Tetteh Kpankpah, District Chief Executive (DCE) for Ada West
“We are very delighted and grateful for this sensitisation initiative by the FDA at this particular time since this is the same period that the District Assembly is also organising the annual food vendor’s medical screening across the district,” Hon. Kpankpah said in his speech.
“Mr. Chairman, safety and healthy food and market is what we are all working to maintain. The Ada West District hope to collaborate with the FDA in the coming days to uphold more of such activities in the district,” the DCE for Ada West added.
Meanwhile, the FDA are expected to conclude their food safety sensitisation tour in Ada with a seminar at the Kasseh market in the Ada East District on Tuesday.
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