Watching What We Eat

The death of seven members of a family in the North made sad reading yesterday. It prompts the question about how much seriousness we attach to what we eat.

It is a fact that we care less about the food we take as though such intake of the source of our nutrients and energy does not matter at all to us.

Perhaps, we are oblivious to the dangers of waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid, to mention a few.

Even as we await the outcome of the post-mortem on the corpses of the seven persons, we cannot rule out the possibility of the killer beans being laced with a concentration of pesticides. Perhaps, these were meant for planting and not for human consumption.

Reading the story suggests how little such matters receive the attention of state agencies charged with the responsibilities of ensuring that we are protected against unwholesome food.

Let such agencies wake up to their responsibilities so that such avoidable fatalities do not visit us the way they did in the Northern Region.

In this day and age, we cannot imagine our compatriots dying simply because they fed on poisoned meals.

That the killer meal was most likely not deliberately poisoned by someone with a sinister motive of inflicting death on them makes the issue murkier.

Even as we sympathise with the bereaved family, we cannot ignore making a call on the authorities to undertake a thorough investigation to establish the source of poisoning.

Such thoroughness will ensure that future recurrence is greatly obviated. It is an obtrusiveness, which, if not handled properly, will reduce the seriousness of the subject to the level of the usual laxity which accompanies killer matters.

The case of the innocent children in the family makes more pathetic observation. It is our belief that behind it all is a story of recklessness either from a farm nearby or someone who dispensed a pesticide with little or no consideration for the precautions which go with treated seed crops.

Let us be more circumspect about what we eat because death could be lurking in such foods, especially if they are not handled properly.

A lot of chemicals are available for the use of farmers, most of whom do not appear to understand the danger involved in the careless application of such pesticides on seed crops such as maize, beans and sorghums.

We are aware of the education offered by extension officers to obviate some of such mishaps and to increase yields. This has not been enough as shown by the painful death of the family of seven in the North.

We wish to take this opportunity to ask the relevant authorities to activate the bylaws on food safety, especially on the need for food vendors, to meet the safety requirements regarding food handling.

The situation, as we have it today, is such that anybody can begin preparing and selling food with no regard for their health status as demanded by the relevant bylaw.

There is a spot close to Danafco Pharmaceuticals towards TV Africa in Accra where lorry tyres are used to burn the fur of goats, a process which has long been in operation.

Nobody has bothered to find out what health implications this has on human beings who consume the meat so handled.

The story of the killer beans should serve as a wakeup call to the authorities and the individual consumers to be mindful of what they eat because recklessness in this direction can be lethal.

Source: Editorial (D-Guide)