The poisoned chalice off the shelf
Mpho Mokwape | Friday April 17, 2015 15:33
Botswana Television (Btv) viewers were shocked by a report from Kasane where police, Food Control Unit officers and other authorities raided bakeries and grocers in the tourist town this week. They uncovered numerous instances of negligence and even brazen defiance of food safety standards.
Loaves of mouldy bread from bakers were shown being seized, while packages suspected to be expired meat were also retrieved from shelves, due for destruction.
Available local data indicates that thousands of suspected food poisoning incidents are reported to authorities annually, particularly in schools where chinks in the supply chain exist from producer, to supplier to preparation. In a 1999 incident, 90 children complained of stiff necks and began nodding uncontrollably in Tlhalogang Community Junior Secondary School in Borolong near Francistown.
Experts say new threats to food safety are constantly emerging. Changes in food production, distribution and consumption, changes to environment, new emerging pathogens; as well as antimicrobial resistance all pose great challenges to national food safety systems.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that unsafe food is linked to the deaths of at least two million people annually, including large numbers of children.
According to Consumer Watchdog representative, Kate Harriman, Botswana has possibly turned into a dumping site simply because most of the food consumed here is sourced from outside.
Botswana, by most available data, imports up to 80 percent of her food requirements due to limitations in local production.
Harriman says with lax control in place, anything and everything may find its way into the country and be subsequently bought and consumed. She gives an example of a shop where someone bought baby formula on display at a discount price while knowing very well that the product was only a few days from expiry.
“We called the shop, told them that what they were doing was wrong and against the law,” she says.
“We asked them to take the formula off the shelf and their response was appalling to say the least.
“Their response was: ‘We are sorry we cannot take the baby formula off the shelf because we first have to consult our counterparts in South Africa where our supply and bosses are’.” Harriman says the response on its own enabled Consumer Watchdog to act swiftly in dealing with the issue as it posed a great danger to a consumer unaware of the expiry date.
“At the end we were happy that we managed to show the shop that they were totally wrong and putting the lives of the customer in danger. We were also happy that the Ministry of Health acted swiftly in dealing with the issue.”
Harriman says the baby formula issue was not isolated, but rather one in many cases the organisation handles on a daily basis.
The strides made in the depth of the country’s education and rising incomes have also produced more perceptive and discerning consumers. Many are unwillingly to blithely trust a retailer’s word that a product is ‘safe’ and many are constantly on the lookout for telltale signs of poor hygiene.
“It has become a common to see big supermarkets failing inspections. You can even see cockroaches running around the shop floor and flies buzzing around the deli section! “Imagine how many Batswana visit these shops and buy food from there on a daily basis? Imagine how many will fall ill and not even complain or file a report that authorities can follow?
“Imagine how many could fall sick in years to come from food consumption done today?” says Albert Mosarwa, a self-employed Gaborone man who describes himself as a ‘foodie’.
Most experts agree that the Food Control Act of 1993 has become obsolete, overtaken by the complexity of food production systems and the globalisation of supply. The Ministry of Health is reportedly reviewing the Act of 1993 to broaden its scope and focus on risk analysis.
Speaking at the recent World Health Day commemorations, acting Health deputy permanent secretary, Haruna Jibril, revealed that there was a proposal for the establishment of a Food Safety Authority to harmonise food control systems and place an emphasis on risk analysis.
According to Jibril, the MoH wants to develop better knowledge on the incidence and causes of food poisoning and produce effective policies to minimise associated risks to health. Government, he said, wants to determine the microbiological, chemical as well as physical quality and safety of the food.
“Food borne diseases are widespread and represent a significant threat to the health and economies of countries,” he said.
“Food borne diseases are estimated to affect 30 percent of the population in industrialised countries at some time in a given year.”
He said in the last two decades, dramatic episodes of food borne disease accidents and outbreaks have raised concern about the effectiveness of food control systems in protecting consumers.
This in turn has sparked increased attention on the regulatory frameworks that govern food safety and food trade.
“Unease over microbiological and chemical contaminants of the food chain and the use of food additives, pesticides and veterinary drugs, as well as heightened consumer interest in diet-related health issues, have also raised the profile of food safety control systems,” he said. For Botswana, the challenge of food safety involves greater consumer activism, regulation and control, political and industrial commitment as well as reducing the reliance on food imports.