Pregnant women in their first trimester have been advised against excessive eating of animal liver as that could lead to miscarriages.

Mrs Faustina Vimariba, Greater Accra Regional Nutrition Officer of the Ghana Health Service, who disclosed this, said even though animal liver was a good source of iron, it also contained high contents of vitamin A.

Mrs Vimariba revealed this on Thursday to the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of the maiden Tema Food Bazaar, organized by the Tema Health Directorate with support from the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) and other organizations to promote the consumption of local dishes among residents.

The theme for the food bazaar was, “Eat right, go local for good health”

She explained that during the first trimester, cell formation of the fetus occurs therefore making it dangerous to consume food substances like liver that have high vitamin A content.

She urged expectant mothers to consume more foods containing folic and iron in early pregnancy noting that that would boost the formation of the cells.

The Nutrition Officer said folic and iron could be obtained from dark green leafy vegetables such as spinash, kontomire, borkorborkor, among others.

She encouraged the public to use more natural spices such as rosemary, ginger, garlic, cloves, dawadawa among others instead of the artificial ones as that could lead to contraction of many sicknesses.

Mrs Vimariba also urged Ghanaians to use the four star food guide in food preparations to ensure that they consumed a balanced meal.

This she said included staples, fruits and vegetables, legumes, and animal source protein.

She added that food could be consumed without plenty oils as most of the food items already contained the needed oils and fat.