The Food and Drug Authority (FDA), on Wednesday called on traders at the Osu market in the Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly (KKMA), to observe food safety standards to ensure the wellbeing of consumers.

The Authority said more often than not, market women in their quest to maximise profits adopt practices such as adulteration of some food items, selling of expired and rotten foods, and repackaging and selling of inferior products, at the expense of the health of consumers and the public.

Ms Cynthia Hushie, FDA Food Safety Management Officer who made the called urged the traders to desist from such acts, adding that the authority would soon clamp down on traders found culpable.

She emphasised the need for traders to take precautionary measures when buying food items for sale to ensure there are no imitations especially rice.

“There are things to look out for in every product you want to buy. For bottled and packaged items, you must look out for the expiry date”, she said.

“Do not buy rotten ingredients such as tomato, pepper, garden eggs and onion just because they are cheaper. They mostly contain germs which cause all sorts of diseases to the consumer,” she added.

Ms Hushie said in order to ensure that food vendors adhered to the authority’s safety standards, it would be issuing out food vending permits to all food vendors within the municipality.

She said food vendors within the municipality will be examined to ensure that they are healthy to sell to the public.

Nii Nortei Adumoah, the Acting Municipal Environmental Health Officer of Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly called on the traders and the public to complement the efforts of the assembly and the Government of making the city clean.

He said the assembly had engaged the service of Jekora Waste Management Services to collect waste within the municipality as part of measures to improve on sanitation.

He urged traders to register with Jekora Waste Management Services to pick their waste on daily basis and also cautioned them against the dumping of waste at unauthorised places.

Nii Adumaoh said such acts leads to disasters such as flooding and disease outbreaks.

The traders were also educated on the dangers of smoking and substance abuse.

Traders were also educated on the need to have good retail and storage practices, personal hygiene standards for food vendors, hygienic practices in handling fresh fruits and vegetables, safe food handling practices to prevent foodborne illnesses and how to transport fresh fish, meat and poultry under good conditions.