The Tema Metropolitan Assembly has warned that food vendors without valid health certificates will be arrested and prosecuted.  

Mr. Wisdom Aditse, Metro Environmental Health Officer, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Tema on Thursday that the move was to reduce the incidence of contaminated foods sold to the residents of the Metropolis and the country at large.  

He said acquiring the health certificate, which was issued after undergoing a screening exercise, was crucial in ensuring that no communicable diseases were transferred to the buyers, as well as making sure that the sellers sold their items under hygienic conditions for public safety.  

Mr Aditse explained that the screening sections also served as an avenue to educate vendors to keep their facilities and selling joints clean to prevent any form of disease that would be transferred to the customers.  

He said it was essential to renew the certificate annually to ascertain the health status of the seller, and failure to do that could lead them to court.  

 “When we screen you now, at the end of the year it expires, so you have to be screened the following year,”  he explained.

The Environmental Health Officer cautioned the consumers to be mindful of what they consumed, look out for unhygienic food joints, and report to the Assembly.