When you visit local markets and food stores to purchase fruits, vegetables, yams or rice, what do you look out for? When you haggle over prices with traders in the market, or vacillate on which foods best suit your preferences, what do you think of? How do you decide where or when to eat out? Cost, colours or customer service. I bet safety doesn’t lie atop your list; it doesn’t for most people. Of course, it could be lying somewhere in your mind, but very few persons give it any due consideration. And those who do, adopt a very myopic point of view – considering the appearance of the trader and the nature or quality of the food stuffs on display – that doesn’t do justice to the whole idea of food safety.

The food products sold in markets or restaurants come from farms: which may be large and mechanised or small and simple. The crops are grown, harvested, processed, transported and sometimes stored before we ever get to access them in markets and food stores. Animal products also follow a very similar route
from the farms where they are reared, to the slaughterhouses, where they are sacrificed, before being made available for public consumption. In some cases, as seen with fish, chicken and turkey, animal products may be refrigerated for long periods of time, or otherwise left exposed for flies to feast on them. While we do not always get these raw food products to cook them by ourselves, we sometimes resort to fast food shops and restaurants, some of which practice questionable, or even non-existent safety measures. With these several stages food stuffs go through and the numerous possibilities of contamination they are exposed to before they get to the final consumer, the need for ensuring the safety of foods cannot be overemphasised.

Food Safety is the absence – or safe, acceptable levels – of hazards in food that may harm the health of consumers (United Nations, 2019). Sunday, June 07, 2020 marked the second edition of the World Food Safety Day (WFSD). This year’s theme, FOOD SAFETY; EVERYONE’S BUSINESS, as it was in the first edition last year, considers and highlights the rights and roles of key players in the food distribution chain, that encompasses food producers, transporters and consumers. The campaign focus advocated for:

• Farmers to ‘Grow It Safe’;
• Agriculture and Business Operators to ‘Ensure It’s Safe’;
• Government to ‘Keep It Safe’;
• Consumers to ‘Eat It safe’;
• Everyone to ‘Team Up For Safety’.

According to statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO), children under 5 years lie at the forefront (up to 40%) of the diseases and deaths which result from consuming unsafe foods. Up to 600 million individuals fall ill every year from food safety-related complications with the death toll reaching 420,000 deaths. Africa is home to about 91 million cases of ill health, and up to 137,000 deaths from the consumption of unsafe foods, and WHO has linked this to a number of factors – ranging from illiteracy and poor hygiene, to the lack of proper food production, and storage facilities and the absence of or poor implementation of food safety regulations.

FOOD CONTAMINANTS
Food contaminants include;
• Microbial agents: bacteria (Salmonella, Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, and Vibrio cholerae), viruses (Hepatitis A and Norovirus), parasites (tapeworm, trematodes), and prions (proteinous infectious agents that cause the mad cow disease in cattle and its variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease – vCJD – in humans).

• Chemical agents: pesticides like the infamous Sniper, fruits ripeners like Calcium Carbide, toxic preservatives or additives, heavy metals and naturally occurring toxins.

• Physical agents: hair, pieces of metal or glass, and dirts

These food contaminants are implicated in the over 200 diseases directly and indirectly linked to food poisoning, and ranging from diarrhoea to cancers.

THE ROLES OF STAKEHOLDERS IN ENSURING FOOD SAFETY
 Government: The government must create an environment that encourages the enforcement of food safety regulations. The provision of basic amenities and infrastructure – pipe-borne water, electricity, road networks – would greatly ease the burden of ensuring food safety for both individuals and organisations. Food safety regulatory agencies, like NAFDAC (National Food and Drug Administration and Control) and SON (Standards Organisation of Nigeria), must enforce the existing food safety standards and take an uncompromising stance against perpetrators and culprits. Campaigns to create awareness and educate citizens on the roles of personal hygiene and general sanitation in food safety, should also be organised, especially in rural areas.

 Food Producers, Distributors and Vendors: Every player in the food distribution chain has his/her own role to play in ensuring that foods are produced, processed, stored, handled, transported, sold/purchased, prepared and consumed in the best possible hygienic conditions. The use of harmful chemicals like Calcium Carbide in fruit ripening or pesticides and insecticides (like the killer ‘Sniper’) in preserving grains and peas meant for consumption must be prohibited and avoided by farmers and vendors alike. Roadside open-sampling and sales of foods (especially at unhygienic sites) by vendors should be discouraged, and the hygienic levels of kitchens and foods made to comply with appropriate standards.

 Individuals and Families: The United Nations in conjunction with WHO and FAO, (Food and Agricultural Organisation), recommends five (5) keys to maintaining food safety. They are:

• Keeping hygiene by storing and preparing purchased or harvested food stuffs under very hygienic conditions. The microorganisms that cause food poisoning would thrive best in unhygienic environments.
• Separating raw and cooked foods

• Cooking foods thoroughly, as heat plays a role in killing most microbes, and parasites found in foods.
• Keeping foods at safe temperatures.
• Using safe water and raw materials in processing or preparing foods.

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Wealth Okete would be pleased to hear from you. Connect with him on Twitter @OketeWealth or reach him via mail, [email protected]