The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has called on the government to ban single-use plastics in addition to the ban on styrofoam products used in packaging foods to protect the environment and sustain the health of the public. The association said this measure could lead to a comprehensive solution to food safety. The President of the association, Professor Ernest Yorke, made the call at the association’s 26th annual public lecture in Koforidua in the Eastern Region last Friday.
He said the continued use of styrofoam and single-use plastics for food packaging had been one of the major causes of unsafe food in the country, with the attendant risks of diseases and a rising health budget. The event, dubbed: “Food Safety in Contemporary Ghana: Public Health Concerns for the Consumer which focus on Food Safety”, was attended by medical practitioners, heads of departments and agencies, religious leaders, staff of the security services, students from senior high schools, traditional rulers and members of the public. Yorke said numerous factors were rendering food unsafe for consumption in recent times, indicating that these encompassed every stage of the food chain.
He stated that the phenomenon started from food production, harvesting, transportation, processing, storage to final preparation, sale and consumption. He added that failure at any point along the chain could have profound consequences for public health. Intervention The Government, through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is phasing out styrofoam products, and Prof.
Yorke said along with a ban on single-use plastics, it would represent an important environmental and public health intervention. If implemented effectively, together with affordable and sustainable alternatives, he said, this would improve waste collection, recycling, public education and stronger enforcement of environmental regulations. The GMA President said this had the potential to reduce plastic pollution and contribute to cleaner urban environments.
“We believe that the ban must be expanded to include single-use plastics in order to achieve a comprehensive solution,” he said. Yorke explained that contamination might occur long before food reached the consumer, and that poor agricultural practices, unsafe irrigation water, indiscriminate use of chemicals, inadequate storage, interrupted cold chains, …
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