Prevailing Food Safety Practices and Barriers to the Adoption of the WHO 5-Keys to Safer Food Messages in Rural Cocoa-Producing Communities in Ghana

2014

English

In most developing countries, food safety studies and interventions such as education have focused on urban centres with little attention to rural communities. This study therefore focused on members of the Cocoa Farmers’ Cooperatives in eighteen rural cocoa-producing communities in Ghana. The objective was to assess their current food safety practices, educate them on the WHO five-keys to safer food messages, and identify barriers that may inhibit the adoption of the messages. Data was collected through focus group discussions in each community. Prevailing food safety practices include (1) washing hands at various instances but not following the recommended hand-washing procedures that can adequately remove microbes from their hands; (2) engaging in practices that can promote cross-contamination; (3) mostly cooking foods thoroughly but reheating food improperly to effectively destroy microbes that might have contaminated the food; (4) mostly keeping cooked food and leftovers at room temperatures and repeatedly reheating them to prevent spoilage; (5) inadequate protection of boreholes, streams, rivers, and wells from microbial and chemical contamination; (6) misuse of agrochemicals and food additives and food adulteration. Barriers that may limit the adoption of the five-keys to safer food messages include lack of knowledge on various food safety issues, lack of amenities such as potable water and electricity that facilitate appropriate food safety practices, inadequate food safety extension and advisory services, lack of enforcement of food safety and environmental laws, illiteracy, and misplaced priorities among community members. Findings imply that people in rural communities have the tendency to engage in practices that can potentially affect food safety and their health. Therefore, interventions should focus on intensive and continuous food safety education and develop and implement strategies for eliminating barriers that can possibly limit the adoption of recommended messages.

Omari, R.; Quorantsen, E. K.; Omari, P.; Oppey, D.; Asigbee, M.