Mr. Clement Eledi, Deputy Minister, Food and Agriculture, on Wednesday called on the public to insist on food safety, to help reduce the high incidence and economic consequences of food borne diseases.
He said food borne diseases remain high among the causatives of high morbidity and mortality in the country, adding that about 2.1 million deaths resulting from diarrhoea were reported in year 2000.
Mr. Eledi, who was addressing a workshop on food safety and market access, called for an intensified producer and consumer education to create much awareness on the quality of food for both export and local consumption.
He stated that food safety in the country was in a precarious situation and any epidemic outbreak could be disastrous if care was not taken.
Mr. Eledi therefore, advised consumers to be cautious of what they eat and insist on natural and high quality foods prepared under hygienic conditions, for better health.
He said though there were numerous legislations governing food production, poor supervision and enforcement had been a major setback to achieving food safety within the country.
He stated that government had taken steps to intensify efforts to improve upon food safety by strengthening the capacity of institution such as the Food and Drugs Board, Food and Agriculture and Metropolitan Assemblies to enforce legislation and increase surveillance.
The workshop, which brought together food experts from the various ministries, departments and enforcement agencies including the MOFA, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), World Health Organisation, Ghana Standards Board and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, was a step to find ways of encouraging food producers and exporters to consider consumer safety first.
Mr. Eledi urged the public to insist on quality and not quantity, while taking note of expiring dates, ingredients and colouring.
"You must be careful of the environment under which food are prepared and sold, as such foods could easily be contaminated," he advised.
The Deputy Minister called for concerted efforts from all stakeholders to find a more proactive approach to address the problem of food safety in the country.
Mr. Kwaku Owusu-Baah, Chief Director, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, said the safety of food should begin from the farm, adding that farmers must seek proper advice when using chemicals, "since certain chemicals can be dangerous for human consumption."
" The Ministry has improved seeds as well as approved chemicals for crop production. We also have extension officers who offer free technical advice to both crop and animal farmers," he said.
He called on farmers to utilize such services to ensure quality production that would compete favourably with other goods on the global market.
Mr. Owusu-Baah stated that the WHO was working together with the FAO, to strengthen the capacity of the National Codex Committee, to undertake the challenges posed, from production to final consumption.
He explained that the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) was created in 1963 by the FAO and WHO, to develop food standards, texts and other related documents such as the codes of practice under the joint FAO/WHO World Food Standard Programme.
He said the CAC was committed to protecting the health of consumers, promoting fair food trade and coordination of all food standards work undertaken by international, governmental and Non-governmental Organisations.
He said intensified consumer education was the only immediate solution to the current state of food safety situation in the country and urged all the enforcement agencies to intensify their effort to clump down on those who violate the legislation.
Mr. Anatolio Ndong Mba, FAO Representative, said the CAC standards were valuable basis for the development of standards by new trading blocks.
He said the WFP, also uses Codex standards as a reference in specifying contracts for food aid.
"In practice, it is difficult for many countries to accept Codex standards in the statutory sense due to differing legal formats, varying administrative and political systems and sometimes national attitudes as well as the concept of sovereign rights," he said.
Mr. Mba however said despite these difficulties the process of harmonization was gaining impetus by virtue of a strong international desire to facilitate trade.
"The current membership of the CAC had risen from 30 to over 160 countries," he said