Environmental health analysts are advocating for best practices and methods in food handling, especially for street food vendors.
According to them, maintaining a cleaner environment helps curb food-borne diseases such as cholera and dysentery, among others.
Madam Kate Cann, an Environmental Health Analyst at the Effia Kwesimintsim Metropolitan Assembly, EKMA, mentioned that it is worth noting that food-borne diseases are recorded during rainy seasons, as it tends to increase exposure to contaminated water through poor sanitation during excess water, by contaminated water, or by contaminating water with freshly excreted bacteria.
A report by the World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that each year, 1 in 10 people get ill by eating unsafe food.
While food safety is a shared responsibility, individual consumers and food handlers play a role in preventing foodborne disease.
In promoting safe food handling, a person should maintain personal hygiene, separate raw and cooked foods, and use safe water and raw materials.
Again, Madam Cann said, food vendors should make it a point to practice personal hygiene and obtain a vending permit from the Assembly before operating, adding that food offered for sale must be served hot at all times.
She also advised consumers to buy from vendors who practice proper food handling.
