The initiative was part of activities marking the World Standard Day 2024, which seeks to raise public awareness on the mandate of the Gambia Standards Bureau in promoting good hygiene services. Moreover, it seeks to improve local food processors’ knowledge on packaging and labelling.
Thus as part of this celebration, the bureau has staged series of sensitisation activities geared towards promoting good hygienic practices among food handlers in public spaces and raising awareness on standard matters.
The theme for this year celebration ‘Shared Vision for a Better World. Spotlight on SDG 9’, focuses on building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, and fostering innovation.
The sensitisation team targeted mainly traders in ‘lumos’ and markets, local food processors as well as the public.
The main highlight of the caravan tour witnessed site visits to the country biggest provincial - ‘lumos’ namely; Farafenni,Wassu, Sareh Bojo and Bureng as well as multi-purpose centres (MPCs) and community radios in each of the 5 regions.
Starting out in the North Bank proceeded to Central River, Upper River, Lower River Regions, the caravan tour wrapped up their activities in the West Coast Region.
As part of the event, the tour party enlightened the public about issues relating to cleanliness especially among food handlers particularly restaurants owners, who were also given the opportunity to share their opinions and challenges with the visiting bureau officials.
Expressing gratitude to the Gambia Standards Bureau, beneficiaries who include market women and restaurant owners, described the initiative as a worthy cause and move in the right direction.
However, they bemoaned the poor state of some food stuff in the markets such as uncovered foods, selling of both expired foods and sick animals, slaughtering of recently injected animals, poor state of cooked meat and non adherence to general principles of good hygienic practices during food preparation.
The team also visited food processors in all the regions, where they were sensitised on good hygienic practices, packaging and labelling of food products as per the requirements of the national packaging and labelling standards.
Participants applauded the Bureau for enriching their knowledge and understanding on packaging and labelling, as well as on good hygienic practices.
The team also engaged the general public through series of live radio sensitization programmes at community radio stations across all the regions in the country.
The World Standard Day, is set aside to pay tribute to the thousands of experts worldwide, who collaborate within the International and National Standards setting organisations to develop standards.
These standards serve to facilitate trade, safeguard health and safety, spread knowledge and disseminate technological advances.
