By: Nana Achiaa Aboagye
The Veterinary Service Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and its partners have launched the 2023 World Food Safety Month celebration in Accra. Meanwhile, Wednesday, June 7, will be marked as World Food Safety Day. The occasion is used to intensify efforts to ensure that the food we eat is safe.
Access to safe food is key to sustaining life and promoting good health. Food-borne diseases are usually infectious or toxic in nature; and often invisible. They are caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances entering the body through contaminated food or water.
With an estimated 600 million cases of foodborne illnesses annually, unsafe food is a threat to human health and economies, disproportionally affecting vulnerable and marginalized people, especially women and children, populations affected by conflict, and migrants.
An estimated 420, 000 people around the world die every year after eating contaminated food, and children under 5 years of age carry 40% of the foodborne disease burden, with 125 000 deaths every year.
The World Health Organization has estimated that if antimicrobial resistance is not properly addressed, by 2050, about 10 million people in the world could die from consumption of unsafe food. This year’s celebration aims at creating awareness and sensitizing the public to intensify activities and unite towards provision of safe food.
The Registrar of the Veterinary Council of Ghana, Dr. Kingsley Mickey Aryee called on key players to put stricter measures in place to achieve quality and safety; over just quantity, if indeed, we are what we eat.
He called the media to assist in the sensitisation of the public on food safety as they are their major stakeholder in public health education in the month of June. Everyone needs to be informed as Food safety is everyone’s business.
The Deputy Head of the National Food Safety Laboratory at the Veterinary Service Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Benjamin Kissi Sasu said food safety is a shared responsibility and everyone has a role to play from the farm to the table.
He said there is a national food safety police to ensure that Ghana also get the right product to eat and also whatever we consume are checked.
The National Food Safety Laboratory of Veterinary Services Directorate under Ministry of Food & Agriculture and Food & Drug Authority under Ministry of Health are the lead agencies for this year’s World Food Safety Month celebration and all other stakeholders.
Under the slogan “Food safety, everyone’s business”, the campaign promotes global food safety awareness and requires everyone’s involvement. The year’s celebration has the theme “Food Standards, Saves Lives”.
