Ms Frederica Walker, Regulatory Officer of Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), has said food-borne diseases occur daily as a result of consumption of unsafe food.
She said: �No matter where we do our purchases, we need to thoroughly wash these food items with safe and salt water or other disinfectants to prevent illnesses such as typhoid.�
Ms Walker made this known to Ghana News Agency at Teshie in Accra on Friday at a sensitisation programme dubbed: �Food Safety for Traditional Caterers,� for members of the Ghana Traditional Caterers Association (GTCA).
She said food safety begins from the farm to the kitchen such as harvesting and storage, purchasing from the market, transportation to homes as well as preparation and service to customers.
Ms Walker warned of the dangers of selling or eating unwholesome food being sold under unhygienic conditions where the risks of contamination is very high and therefore called for adequate control measures to ensure safety.
She noted that as Christmas draws near people would import a lot of fake spices for the purpose of the celebration and advised the citizenry to discard dented, bulged or rusted canned foods which are indication that something is wrong with the content.
Ms Walker said the FDA�s interest is to ensure that the World Health Organisation five keys to safer food global message like �keep clean, cook and re-heat food well, use wholesome raw materials and buy from clean places, separate raw and cooked food, and keep food at safe temperatures�, are observed by all.
She urged food handlers to desist from displaying their wares on the bare ground which could be infested by germs that would result in food-borne diseases.
Mr Ken Peprah Dwemoh Mensah of GTCA asked food handlers to take sanitation and cleanliness seriously as part of their daily activities to prevent food contamination and food-borne diseases.
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