Food businesses breaching major sanitary regulations – GA-FDD

An alarming number of food businesses are breaching sanitary regulatory requirements, ranging from employees not properly washing their hands to the storage and preparation of meals.
This is according to a survey conducted by the Government Analyst Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD) from September 2018 to March 2019 among 55 randomly selected food service establishments in Regions Four and Six.
The inspection checklist assessed six areas: food storage, cold storage, food preparation, sanitation, garbage disposal and employee hygiene.
Only 25 per cent of the facilities practised adequate food storage. Cold storage was satisfactory in 34 per cent of the facilities, and only 22 per cent had a functional temperature monitoring device (thermometer).
In regard to food preparation, only 18 per cent of the businesses effectively protected the food from contamination, whilst a mere 11 per cent practised meat thawing safely.
Food handlers in only 13 per cent of establishments used gloves. As it relates to sanitation, only four per cent of establishments’ workers were observed applying the correct principles of cleaning and sanitising.
While adequate external garbage disposal was present in the majority (73 per cent) of establishments, only 56 per cent had adequate temporary internal garbage disposal. In regard to employee hygiene, only 20 per cent practised handwashing correctly and in 42 per cent of the establishments, workers used no hair nets.
Microbiological samples were taken of the food; from workers’ hands, from food contact surfaces, from food service containers, and air quality.
Of the 99 food samples submitted, 37 per cent was unsatisfactory and of the 102 hands of workers that were swabbed after washing, 47 per cent was unsatisfactory. In regard to food contact surfaces (cutting boards and utensils), 30 per cent of the 125 surfaces swabbed after cleaning and/or sanitising was unsatisfactory.
Furthermore, 46 per cent of the 48 food service containers (food boxes) sampled were unsatisfactory. The air quality in the majority of establishments was generally satisfactory since 95 per cent of the 64 air quality samples taken was satisfactory.

Cross-contamination
Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Department explained that the high percentage of unsatisfactory foods, which are generally served hot and should, therefore, be free of microorganisms, may be as a result of cross-contamination.
Cross-contamination, it noted, can stem from unsatisfactory food storage conditions, unsatisfactory thawing practices, inadequate cleaning/sanitising of food contact surfaces and workers’ hands.
The observed limited glove use may also be a contributing factor, the Department explained.
“High microbial contamination of food contact surfaces and the hands of workers can be as a result of the incorrect or inadequate methods used to clean and sanitise workers’ hands and food contact surfaces. Food handlers were generally unaware of the difference between the process of cleaning to remove dirt and sanitising to kill bacteria,” GA-FDD posited.
It also noted that inadequate temporary garbage disposal (uncovered bins) inside processing areas may suggest why insect infestation (flies and cockroaches) was observed in many food service establishments.
“Garbage disposal in close proximity to the processing area(s) may also result in cross-contamination. Lastly, employees’ hygiene was generally adequate except for the practices employed after hand washing which may have led to re-contamination of the hands,” GA-FDD stated.
The Department contended that this ultimately called into question the knowledge of food handlers on the correct method employed to the effect of proper hand washing and the availability of adequate handwashing facilities.

Compliance
In light of the findings, the GA-FDD will be embarking on an initiative to ensure food establishments comply with the sanitary regulations.
In fact, the findings were shared with members of the National Food Safety and Control Committee Meeting hosted on May 7, 2019.
Members are expected to take the detailed results and findings to food service establishments that fall under their purview, where they are to either work collaboratively with proprietors to ensure compliance with sanitary regulations or take appropriate action in the very best interest of consumer protection and safety.
In the meantime, Analytical Scientific Officers will continue to expand this exercise to other regions and municipalities.
GA-FDD explained that the purpose of the survey was to determine compliance of the food service industry with existing sanitary regulatory requirements.
Analytical Scientific Officers attached to the GA-FDD’s Food Laboratory conducted the survey in collaboration with Food Inspectors of the GA-FDD’s Public Health Officers from the city and municipalities, Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) of the region and Port Health Officers.
Operating procedures in the establishments were assessed using an inspection checklist and samples were taken and submitted for microbiological analysis. Micro-organisms of interest were salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus.

Contaminated food
In 2015, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates suggested that 1 in 10 or approximately 600 million persons fall ill each year after consuming contaminated food, with approximately 420,000 deaths.
In Guyana, a 2009 Burden of Illness study estimated the occurrence of approximately 131,012 cases of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) or diarrhoea annually and each person in Guyana experiences at least one episode of diarrhoea each year.