Food Poisoning: Ayawaso East Assembly declares ‘no certification, no sale of food’

Accra-Ghana, Feb 07, GNA – The Ayawaso-East Municipal Assembly says it will only allow traders with certification to sell food in the Municipality.
Mr. Sherif Hamdawaiy, Assistant Environmental Officer of the Assembly, said the initiative was to ensure the safety of the people given the health implications associated with selling unwholesome food.
The residents, he said, should also be supportive of the Assembly in its work by notifying the authorities of any food vendor operating without due certification.
Mr. Hamdawaiy, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Accra, said the authorities would conduct regular checks on food vendors to ensure that they met the safety standards.
“What we do is to organise mass health screening every year on the health status of the food vendors in the Municipality to ensure that they are all tested before they are certified to sell food in the area,’’ he stated.
This comes on the back of the recent death of five people and hospitalisation of 40 others at Oyibi, in the Greater Accra Region, after they had allegedly consumed ‘waakye’, a popular local dish.
The tragic incident, which occurred on Friday, January 20, this year, has compelled the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to begin a mass exercise of clearing the streets of food vendors and traders operating without due certification.