1st February, 2018
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
The Lagos State Government has moved to curb food and water contamination in eateries, restaurants and hotels across the state, charging stakeholders to embrace the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point, HACCP, certification.
HACCP is a management system that gives a systematic preventive approach to Food Safety, from biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product, through identifying where hazards may occur and design measures to reduce this risks to a safe level by putting in place stringent actions, strictly monitoring and controlling each process.
Speaking at the sensitization meeting for food/water/beverage handling establishments on Thursday in Alausa, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, Special Adviser to the Governor on Primary Healthcare, Dr. Olufemi Onanuga lamented that food safety had become a major concern to the food industry given that the consumption of contaminated food and water contributed to a myriad of health problems in the World.
“In 2005, 1.8 million people died of gastroenteritis caused by contaminated food and water (WHO, 2007). In spite of the technological progress in food production and control, the occurrence of these diseases has recently increased, even in developed countries.
“Food and water prepared, served at the restaurants, eateries, hotels and those processed in factories may look clean and taste delicious, but may have been contaminated by biological, chemical or physical hazards during the preparation procedures from the source through to service. Food hazards or contamination may also come from primary production/farm, from improper handling or storage in the food industry, or from errors during preparation at home or in other places where the food is consumed.
“Kitchens are viewed as the major sources of contamination, from poor sourcing, handling practices, which include under-cooking, poor personal hygiene, use of unclean equipment, inappropriate storage and incorrect holding temperatures to mention a few, but a tool that gives a holistic approach to food safety for consumption is HACCP-Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point,” he said.
Onanuga said there was need for an effective HACCP system to be in place in every food/water/beverage organization that meet food safety requirement and protect the consumer from harm that could result from any form of hazards, adding that this required that the HACCP plan is valid by design and effective in controlling all relevant food safety hazards, saying that when fully implemented, it could be monitored to verify its effectiveness in the operation of food, water and beverage production.
“The Ministry of Health adopted HACCP Initiative in the first quarter of 2017 and till date over 106 HACCP Plans have been submitted. The procedures span from submission of HACCP Plan, review of the document, auditing of the establishment to check compliance and issuance of certification. But this figure is rather low comparing to the number of regulated premises in the State.
“For a successful HACCP programme to be properly implemented, the management must be committed to a HACCP approach. The commitment by management will indicate an awareness of the benefits and costs of HACCP and include education and training of employees. Benefits, in addition to enhanced assurance of food safety, are better use of resources and timely response to problems,” he said.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Modele Osunkiyesi, said the essence of the meeting was to sensitise food/water/beverage-based establishment on the importance and having an understanding of the HACCP Initiative as well as foster/promote the adoption of the HACCP system in food/water/beverage establishment, “because this is what our inspectors will look for amongst other areas.”
She added that the meeting aimed to emphasise the relationship between good hygiene practices and the HACCP systems, gain management commitment to the promotion of food safety and hygiene.
“A proper understanding will prevent sanctions, reduce the form of delays in processing documents and ensure a transparent HACCP Certification by the Ministry. This is not a training but rather to give you the necessary Orientation. We shall be having these meetings for all zones so we can reach about a 1000 food/water/beverage establishment this February 2018,” she said.
However, hundreds of stakeholders in the food and water industry were at the meeting where they were sensitized on the need to embrace HACCP.