A one-day workshop on the programme for the stakeholder's preparatory evaluation on food safety was recently organised by the EIF project.
The forum, held at the National Nutrition Agency (NaNA) conference room in Kanifing, was attended by a host of senior government officials mainly from the Ministry of Health, as well as food vendors.
In his presentation on the theme 'food safety', Malang Fofana of NaNA described the sensitisation workshop as "very important".
According to him, food may occasionally become contaminated to a level that spoils the food or could cause illness if eaten.
"This contamination can potentially occur at every point in the food chain, from cultivation, harvest or slaughter to processing, transportation, storage, distribution, retailing, final preparation and serving," he said.
Mr Fofana says there are threats associated with street foods in terms of hygiene and health.
"It is against this background that the NCSPSC has identified the street food sector to apply better training for safer foods," he said. "This is why the emphasis is the street vended food."
He says that food if improperly produced, handled, and processed can present serious health hazards to the consumer.
Gabriel L.S. Gomez, in his presentation on food hygiene practice for street vendors, said food hygiene practice covers the conditions and measures necessary to ensure safety and suitability of food at all stages of the food chain.
Mr Gomez encouraged the participants to take the training seriously and to share the knowledge acquired from it to others.
He also thanked the Ministry of Trade for funding the workshop as well as NaNA for hosting it.
The executive director of NaNA, Pa Modou Phaal, expressed similar sentiments.
