Flour workers in Cape Coast in the Central Region have shared in the benefit of "My Healthy Baker" programme, an initiative introduced by Olam Agri, a leading agribusiness in Ghana.
Olam Agri Company through this initiative has offered bakers in Cape Coast extensive education on nutrition and the need for them to prioritize personal hygiene, coupled with a free breast and general health screening in a bid to enhance food safety standards in the baking industry.
The initiative, backed by the Central Regional Coordinating Council and the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), seeks to improve the welfare of bakers and also protect the public against food-borne diseases.
About 1,500 bakers and their workers in the Central Region are estimated to receive such education in good health, safety and sanitation practices by Olam Agri.
The initiative also goes far to aid in the pragmatic measures undertaken by stakeholders to help curb the outbreak of cholera in the Region and country at large.
At the launch of the programme in Cape Coast, Mr. Soumya Saxena, Business Head, Olam Agri’s Grains Business, reiterated the company’s dedication to empowering professionals in the food industry with the relevant resources and knowledge required to thrive.
He explained that the initiative had been expanded to benefit more than 7,000 bakers nationwide from the Western, Central, Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions.
Mr. Richard Apaloo, Managing Consultant, Twentieth Consult, implementing partners for the programme, highlighted the impact of the initiative since it began in 2023 in Accra.
“The impact that we are seeing is very positive because we are beginning to see change in attitudes from within the bakeries,” he said.
Mr. William Freeman Goku, Regional Environmental Health Officer entreated bakers and food vendors to stick to the sanitation protocols to ensure that food is always safe for consumers.
He further reminded the public to be cautious about what they consume, particularly in the wake of the cholera outbreak which he warned was deadly.
Madam Francisca Anokye, the Central Regional Head of FDA, stressed the need for vendors to observe high standards of hygiene, cautioning that many recorded sicknesses were caused by poor sanitation as well as food and water contamination.
She also entreated all bakers to document their recipes to maintain the quality of their products and sustain their businesses even in their absence.
Beneficiary bakers of the programme also shared delight with a profound appreciation to Olam Agri for the knowledge acquired through the initiative, following the programme's potency in enhancing their businesses.
In maintaining and putting food standards to check, hygiene controllers have been assigned to go round the Region every day to educate bakers to conform to the required standards through the initiative.
Sompaonline.com//Eric Annan