24 small business owners receive food safety training
Technical Officer, Breana Wilson conducts the food safety training on Thursday at the GNBS’ Quality Hall, Sophia Exhibition Site, Georgetown
Technical Officer, Breana Wilson conducts the food safety training on Thursday at the GNBS’ Quality Hall, Sophia Exhibition Site, Georgetown

THE Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS), in observance of World Standards Day, recently hosted a free food safety training for 24 small business owners. The training was conducted by technical officers of the Business Development Department, at the GNBS Head office, Sophia Exhibition site, Georgetown.

World Standards Day is being observed under the theme “Standards for SDGS – our vision for a better world.”
According to a release, the food safety training was offered to small agro-processors and vendors that handle, prepare and provide food products for sale. It highlighted some of the basic food safety requirements that ensure the end products are safe for human consumption.

In addition, tips were shared on what materials to avoid in the kitchen and the importance of resisting the urge to reuse food stored for long hours.
“The GNBS believes in making quality and safety accessible to all and by offering this training free of cost,” GNBS Technical Officer, Breana Wilson said.

Participants, along with Technical Officer, Breana Wilson (right) and head of the Business Development Department, Omesh Balmacoon (left) with their certificates following the one-day training

Participants of the training were all pleased with the experience, which they said would help them to produce food items of a higher standard.
One participant, Carolina James, noted that “the training was conducted with a lot of knowledge we did not have before and since we are food vendors, we are interested in the way to up keeping standards in conducting our daily work.”

Kiven Pierre, another food vendor said, “one thing that was particularly interesting for me was learning about the bacteria and how they grow and how prevalent they can be in a food environment. I feel very good for the training as it was very informative.”

According to Head of the Business Development Department, Omesh Balmacoon, the training was only opened to small-scale food producers.
A certificate was provided to the participants, which can be used to increase customer confidence in their products.

However, these persons are still required to be in possession of a food handler’s certificate. With the expansion of their businesses, participants were also encouraged to pursue certification to local and international standards, the release concluded.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.