GA-FDD urge public to report businesses that prepare unsanitary foods

A startling revelation derived from a survey is that only 25 per cent of food businesses meet the sanitary requirements set out in regulations emanating from the Government Analyst Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD), and that body is now urging the public to report businesses that engage in unsanitary practices.
Director of GA-FDD, Marlan Cole, has related that if reports are made, Food Inspection Officers would be armed with the information, which they would use to ensure the affected businesses comply with the regulations.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Cole said the public has a right to ensure and to demand proper services in terms of the sanitation of food businesses. He is calling on the public to share information with GA-FDD to assist the department is carrying out its mandate.
“We believe in information-sharing and information for action, and the public could demand…. If persons are not using gloves, maybe the public should say, ‘Well, you should use gloves’; if they are not using hairnets in the facility to prevent the hair from going into the food…. The public is very vigilant in terms of where they go to eat, and so we are not advising people to stop supporting fast-food businesses, but they are eyes out there that can help us in our work, and the expectation is to prevent diarrhoeal diseases and food poisoning etc, because that will have a strain on our health systems,” Cole explained.
Dr Susan Reynolds, Chief Medical Officer of the City Public Health Department, who was also present at the press conference, noted that if reports are made, then GA-FDD would immediately take action.
“What the public can do is, if they have come down with an infectious disease like diarrhoea and vomiting, report it early; because if others have been eating from the same establishment, it means that we can categorise that as a food-borne illness and we could take further action immediately,” the CMO assured.
However, in addition to the public support, Onika Alleyne-Blackman, Chief Meat and Food Inspector, has called for more staff, and more training of staff coupled with more frequent inspections for the food sanitation issue to be tackled.
Coming out of the survey, which was carried out between September 2018 and April 2019, is that an alarming number of food businesses were found to be breaching sanitary regulatory requirements, with transgressions ranging from employees not properly washing their hands to the storage and preparation of meals; and this has now become a cause for concern.
The survey was conducted on some 55 businesses in Georgetown, Corentyne, New Amsterdam, and those in the vicinity of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).
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. 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 was unsatisfactory, and 46 per cent of the 48 food service containers (food boxes) sampled were unsatisfactory.
The air quality in most establishments was generally satisfactory, since 95 per cent of the 64 air quality samples taken was satisfactory.