The Food and Drugs Authority is attributing the anthrax outbreak to the failure of butchers to stick to food safety standards. 

One person has been reported dead from the disease after consuming the carcass of an anthrax-infected cow in the Upper East Region. 

According to the FDA, butchers and consumers disobeying spelt-out food standards by the authority has resulted in the outbreak. 

Four cattle, all in the Binduri District of the Upper East Region have been reported dead due to the disease outbreak.

Whilst there are no reports of person-to-person transmission of anthrax, people get infected from handling contaminated animals or animal products. 

Ruminants such as bison, cattle, sheep and goats, and animal products like beef, fat, and milk are highly susceptible. Horses can also be infected.

A lack of food safety standards will leave consumers unprotected from contaminated foods and higher cases of food poisoning.

Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the FDA, Roderick Kwabena Daddey-Adjei, spoke at a market durbar to commemorate the 2023 World Food Safety Day. 

He indicated the presence of a food safety policy by the Food and Drugs Authority to deal with food safety crises like the anthrax outbreak. 

“We have the food safety policy, a document that stakeholders are told how to respond to food safety crises. In the case of the anthrax in the Upper East, it is a veterinary issue. People did not follow the standards. The standards spelled out were that deceased cattle with blood oozing from their mouth and other body open, you are not supposed to touch such meat. They are to be buried and covered with lime. And warnings are to be meted out.  If this is disobeyed, and such meats are consumed, then consumers will have the anthrax spore causing hemorrhage (bleeding) in their bodies.

“So we are working together with the food emergency response plan, by the Food and Drugs Authority and stakeholders. All the stakeholders in the regions will work together to maintain the standards. And conscientizing the public on standard practices, we are working together with the veterinary, and Ghana Health Service. In the areas it has happened, we have directed that movement of animals, ruminants vulnerable to it be ceased,” he said. 

Food standards specify how food should be handled, measured, packaged, transported, and labeled to keep it safe.

The staged food safety forum aims to educate sellers and consumers on hygienic food handling methods to ensure safety and quality. 

The food safety day is to create awareness and highlight the role of established food safety practices and standards. 

Queen mother of market women at the RaceCourse Market, Afia Kyeiwaa, whilst lauding authorities, lamented the poor state of trading spaces at the market. 

“We are very grateful that this programme has been successful. It has come to our notice that some market women add milled corn husk to powdered pepper to shoot up quantity. They also add the red bleach to red oil to increase its quantity. And so buyers get plenty of these commodities for less money and they think those who sell the authentic have made theirs expensive.