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.
