Accra, Feb. 15, GNA-Over 500 food handlers in the Teshie Sub-Metropolitan Area in Accra, have undergone medical screening on Wednesday to enable them to provide quality and hygienic food to promote tourism as part of Ghana's 50 years anniversary. The exercise, which was organized by the Ghana Traditional Caterers Association and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), was to ensure that food for human consumption was not contaminated and does not produce adverse health effects.

Nana Apraku Tufour I, Greater Accra Regional President of the association told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that, traditional caterers feed 85 per cent of the people and also play a sensitive role in the tourism industry, hence the need to raise their standard through such workshop to minimize diseases.

He said it had become obvious that a little training for most of our traditional caterers would encourage them to keep their places clean and reduce level of bacteria contaminated in prepared food. Nana Apraku also urged the traditional caterers to honour their, tax obligations to enable government to bring development to the people. Mr Jonathan Tekpetey, District environmental Health Officer of the AMA, expressed gratitude to the association and hoped that the food vendors would take the educational programme seriously. He said the AMA was making everything possible to solve food safety problems in the Accra Metropolis, adding that, health officers would go round to assess the impact it had made on the food vendors.

Mr. Tekpetey said the exercise, which was being undertaken by the association was in the interest of food handlers and the public and urged those who had already gone through the screening to come for their certificates to avoid arrest and prosecution.