In modern times, rapid globalisation of food production and trade has increased the potential likelihood of food contamination. Many outbreaks of food-borne diseases that were once contained within a small community may now take place on global dimensions. Food safety authorities all over the world have acknowledged that ensuring food safety must not only be tackled at the national level but also through closer linkages among food safety authorities at the international level. This is important for exchanging routine information on food safety issues and to have rapid access to information in case of food safety emergencies.”
It is difficult to estimate the global incidence of food-borne disease, but it has been reported that in the year 2000 about 2.1 million people died from diarrhoeal diseases. Many of these cases have been attributed to contamination of food and drinking water. Additionally, diarrhoea is a major cause of malnutrition in infants and young children.
Even in industrialized countries, up to 30% of the population of people have been reported to suffer from food-borne diseases every year. In the U.S, around 76 million cases of food-borne diseases, which resulted in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths, are estimated to occur each year. Developing countries in particular, are worst affected by food-borne illnesses due to the presence of a wide range of diseases, including those caused by parasites. Food-borne illnesses can and did inflict serious and extensive harm on society. In 1994, an outbreak of salmonellosis due to contaminated ice cream occurred in the USA, affecting an estimated 224,000 persons. In 1988, an outbreak of hepatitis A, resulting from the consumption of contaminated clams, affected some 300,000 individuals in China. (Source: Wikipedia)
Food contamination creates an enormous social and economic strain on societies. In the U.S., diseases caused by the major pathogens alone are estimated to cost up to US $35 billion annually (1997) in medical costs and lost productivity. The re-emergence of cholera in Peru in 1991 resulted in the loss of US $500 million in fish and fishery product exports that year. (Source: Wikipedia)
Food-borne illness usually arises from improper handling, preparation, or food storage. Good hygiene practices before, during, and after food preparation can reduce the chances of contracting an illness. There is a general consensus in the public health community that regular hand-washing is one of the most effective defenses against the spread of food-borne illness. The action of monitoring food to ensure that it will not cause food-borne illness is known as food safety. Food-borne disease can also be caused by a large variety of toxins that affect the environment.
The situation in Guyana is no different from the rest of the world as today increasingly people are eating out as a result the food catering industry has grown significantly. Hence, the need for policing and monitoring to ensure that the required health standards and quality are met by the various players within the industry has become greater. And to a large extent the authorities vested with this responsibility have been responding favourably to the challenge, but more needs to be done as many players still escape the health safety net.
In this regard, Director of the Food and Drugs Analyst Department, Mrs. Marilyn Collins recently made some pertinent observations with respect to improving the monitoring and supervision system. “Because we are fragmented as a food safety programme, there is no formal mechanism that brings us together. So, we operate in our individual areas and this allows for inefficiency.”
She said overlapping, duplication and grey areas that might be left undone are some platforms from which the inefficiencies originate.
However, Collins maintained that a common programme, that gathers together the different factions in food safety, will enhance efficiency.
She explained that common protocols can be one mechanism to bring stakeholders together for identifying priority areas for attention.
Collins said that is of utmost importance, in light of the fact that food inspection plays a critical role in good public health.
Addressing the stakeholders, she said: “As food inspectors, we tend to belittle the role that we have to play but, when we look at the impact that food safety can have on consumers as a whole, we can appreciate what we do.”
Mrs. Collins’s exhortations should be given serious consideration and attention as public health safety is of paramount importance to the well being of the nation.