FOOD VENDERS IN TANO SOUTH ACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE ON FOOD SAFETY MANAGEMENT

The Tano South District Assembly in collaboration with the Food and Drugs Authority and the Ghana Traditional Caterers Association have organized a three days workshop for food vendors  in Bechem ,Techimantia, and Derma in the Tano South District to educate them on environmental  sanitation, food and Nutrition, Personal  hygiene  and Business management.

In a speech to open the workshop the Tano South District Chief Executive Hon. Bukari Zakari Anaba on behalf of the President, the Local Government Minister and the MP for Tano South constituency welcomed participants to the workshop and wished them a fruitful deliberations. He said the Tano South Assembly is divided into eleven (11) departments of which health is part and briefed participant on the roles each department play.

The District Chief Executive said the environmental health department of the Assembly is responsible for health related issues and is mandated to give education to the general public on environmental sanitation  and personal hygiene. He said people at times meet their death on get sick as a result of poor sanitary conditions and urged the participants to pay attention to the lectures the facilitators would give them.

The District Chief Executive said the contribution of food venders to the society is enormous and needs greater attention and proper care which would help prevent patrons of their operations from contracting diseases from the food they sell.

  The leading officer of the Traditional Caterers Association, Mr. Kwasi Mensah who facilitated defined food as a liquid or solid material which enters the body to provide energy to the body and took the vendors into various topics such as the preparation of vinegar, the disadvantages of using salt pelre (EKAWU), how to produce iodated salt, the uses of monosodium glotemate , the checking of expiring dates on canned food and the disadvantages of using contaminated water and advised the vendors and other stakeholders in the industry to the use of ginger, dawadawa, onions and prekese in the preparation of their food since consumers of such items live longer.

Speaking on environmental hygiene and  business management, the deputy Tano South District Environmental health officer Mr. Abro advised the vendors to properly wash their hands and ingredients such as vegetables   they use in the preparation of their food before boiling and also avoid exposing their food to flies to avoid contamination. Mr. Abro advised the vendors to manage well the little profit they get in their business so as to keep them in business always and said using the money on unnecessary expenditure would not help the business to grow.

Certificate of participation were awarded to all the participants at the end of the workshop.