Speaking during the launch of the Unified Food Safety Training Manuals, on Tuesday in Abuja, the minister of health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said the manuals, being the first-of-its-kind training, will be of great value in training farmers, food processors, marketers, and vendors on the need to ensure that food sold, marketed, and consumed is wholesome and meets national and international standards.
The minister noted that “In 2010, 31 hazard-causing foodborne diseases were responsible for over 600 million illnesses and 420,000 deaths worldwide. “In 2014, the World Bank’s “Safe Food Imperative” found that the cost-of-illness of diarrhoea, attributable to food contamination, is about US$10 per case, with Nigeria estimated to lose about US$6 billion annually in productivity which underscores why the health sector prioritizes safety of foods sold, marketed, and consumed in Nigeria.
Ehanire added that food safety issues is handled with a one-health approach, where collaboration with the agriculture and environment sectors are essential, to ensure people only consume safe and wholesome foods. “These Unified Training Manuals are designed to fill a gap in the food safety control system by providing a curriculum on the principles and techniques of hazard analysis and critical control point as well as good hygiene and manufacturing practices that can be used for training food processing industry employees, farmers, traders, transporters, vendors, and retailers, on the hygienic preparation, processing, and handling of foods, to ensure that food produced in the formal and informal sectors...