Restaurant managers, owners, food vendors and all those who matter in the food supply chain must take into account a number of important factors to maintain the safety of their consumers, including food and environmental safety management. In Ghana, there are said to be more than 625,000 cases of food poisoning annually, according to a report released by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the World Bank in 2007.
Over 420,000 cases of foodborne illness are reported annually in Ghana, where one in every 40 persons is affected. For instance, in the East Legon outlet of the fast food restaurant Marwako, a food vending establishment, it was claimed that over 50 people contracted food poisoning in May 2022.
The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) is a Ghanaian government organization in charge of overseeing the correct distribution of drugs, food, and food products in Ghana. The Food and Drugs Law of 1992, PNDC Law 305B, created the board. More than 297,104 patients were admitted to hospitals each year, accounting for 47.5% of all food poisoning cases reported and the fatality rate from food-related illnesses in Ghana, according to a study from the food and drugs board from 2008.
A food hygiene permit from the FDA is legally required for a restaurant to open its doors. Restaurant staff members must be physically and medically fit and have their health checked by Municipal Assembly health professionals for signs of typhoid, hepatitis B, and other diseases in order for that to be achieved. Additionally, depending on the size of the restaurants, the company must register and pay a charge. However, the FDA is not properly inspecting people who mount stores or containers and begin selling food and items related to food to customers. As a result, this enforcement is not really effective.
Food poisoning is a significant problem in Ghana, where residents are pressing authorities to take action. Many people have lost their lives as a result of various types of food poisoning, while others have been put in grave danger.
In April 2017, the Food and Drugs Authority and the Ghana Police Service detained two ladies at an Accra market after a bystander saw them putting peeled oranges they were ready to sell into a bowl of colored water. The pale, white orange segments turned yellow in the dyed water, making them more appealing to potential customers.
A market survey in 2015 revealed that 98 percent of the palm oil analyzed tested positive for Sudan IV dye, prompting the FDA to issue a statement cautioning the public against consuming palm oil. The dye, which is fatal if swallowed by people, is added to the palm oil to make it more vibrantly red in an effort to draw in more buyers.
Pesticide poisoning is another contamination kind that is frequently disregarded. According to the Regional Directorate of Health, 15 people in Ghana's Upper East Region died from suspicious pesticide poisoning in 2010 alone, according to a report by the Northern Presbyterian Agricultural Services. The majority of these fatalities resulted from pesticides that were improperly stored and leached into food supplies. Meanwhile, 118 people became sick after eating pesticide-tainted food.
Can these lapses be regarded as system failure?
What can the Ministry of Food and Agriculture do about the present situation?
Is the Food and Drugs Authority impotent to take offenders on, or corruption has become the order of the day?
Answers to these questions can only be attributed to the failed nature of structural systems in Ghana.
By Osman Abubakari-Sadiq
BACS23127
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