"Food Safety Essential"

THE MINISTER of Health, Joseph Yieleh Chireh has observed that there is the need to implement food laws in order to control the negative socio-economic trends that confront food safety.
He however stated “we need to updated food standards to guide the implementation of these laws.”
The minister noted that rapid urbanization and lifestyle changes have increased people’s demand for food prepared outside the home.
“More and more people are now buying processed foods, eating in restaurants or from streets vendors,” he said.
Speaking during the opening of the International Food Processing Conference and Exhibition, he observed that the integration and consolidation of food industries and globalization of the food trade are contributing to the changing patterns of food production and distribution.
“The World Health Organisation (WHO) recognizes this and has assigned the Ministry of Health as the key agency to set standards under the new food safety regulations which require health ministries to clear and integrate all existing food standards, which will benefit consumers, food producers, traders and inspectors alike,” he noted.
Mr. Yieleh Chireh said that processing food with obsolete technologies pose food safety, quality and nutritional challenges coupled with the inability to compete on the international market.
“Food processing equipment must therefore be hygienically designed in addition to achieving optimum output.”
He further noted that breastfeeding; the optimal nutritional option for newborns and infants is unfortunately often replaced with infant formula and sometimes even with sub-quality formula.
He suggested that “it is best to eat organically grown foods but due to population growth and modernization, food processing has become one of the most important components of the health sector.”
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Kwesi Ahwoi, in a speech read on his behalf, said the agricultural sector is the key to the overall economic growth and development of Ghana.
The sector however continues to face basic challenges such as low levels of mechanization in production and processing, high post harvest losses, inadequate markets and processing facilities, over reliance on rain-fed agriculture and low performing irrigated agriculture among others.
He said his ministry considers it a priority to take stock of the food processing industry and realizes its importance to the development of the sector at a broader level.
“It is for this reason that the government through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture continues to identify and promote appropriate processing technologies for both on-farm and off-farm levels,” he said.
Mutawakil Riyad, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ridmut Consult, organizers of the event reiterated the aim of the conference saying it is to “create a global platform for networking, partnership and information dissemination in food processing.”
It is also aimed at discussing how to create an enabling environment for a sustainable business sector.

Imitated processed food on display.