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| From L-R: Dr. Kubby Layeni-Adeyemo, Director Occupational Health and Staff Health Services, Lagos State Ministry of Health; Dr. Olufemi Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Primary Health Care, and Mr. James Marsh, the CEO James Marsh and Associates, at a Sensitisation meeting on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) with Stakeholders in the Water, Food and Beverages Industry at Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos recently. |
•Sensitises Stakeholders On HACCP
By Chioma Umeha
The Lagos State Government has moved to check food
and water contamination in eateries, restaurants and hotels across the state,
charging stakeholders to embrace the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point
(HACCP) and certification.
HACCP is a management system that gives a
systematic preventive approach to food safety, from biological, chemical, and
physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to
manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product, through
identifying where hazards may occur and design measures to reduce the risks to
a safe level by putting in place stringent actions, strictly monitoring and
controlling each process.
A release from Mrs. Adeola Salako, Director,
Public Affairs, said that Dr. Olufemi Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the
Governor on Primary Healthcare,
lamented that food safety had become a major concern to the food
industry given that the consumption of contaminated food and water contributed
to myriad of health problems in the world.
She said Onanuga spoke at a sensitisation meeting
for food, water, beverage handling establishments in Lagos recently.
“Food and water prepared, served at the
restaurants, eateries, hotels and those processed in factories may look clean
and taste delicious, but may have been contaminated by biological, chemical or
physical hazards during the preparation procedures from the source through to
service,” he said.
Onanuga noted that food hazards or contamination
might also come from primary production like the farm, from improper handling
or storage in the food industry, or from errors during preparation at home or
in other places where the food is consumed.
The Special Adviser added that kitchens are also
viewed as the major sources of contamination stressing that contamination from
kitchen could be from poor sourcing and handling practices, which include
under-cooking, poor personal hygiene, use of unclean equipment, inappropriate
storage and incorrect holding temperatures amongst others.
He noted that a tool that gives a holistic
approach to food safety for consumption is Hazard Analysis Critical Control
Point (HACCP) stressing that there was need for an effective HACCP system to be
in place in every food, water, beverage organization that meet food safety requirement
and protect the consumer from harm that could result from any form of hazards.
“The Ministry of Health adopted HACCP Initiative
in the first quarter of 2017 and till date over 106 HACCP Plans have been
submitted. The procedures span from submission of HACCP Plan, review of the
document, auditing of the establishment to check compliance and issuance of
certification. But this figure is rather low comparing to the number of
regulated premises in the state,” Onanuga stated.
The Special Adviser opined that for a successful
HACCP programme to be properly implemented, the management must be committed to
a HACCP approach, adding that the commitment by management would indicate an
awareness of the benefits and costs of HACCP, which include education and training
of employees.
He stressed that in addition to enhanced assurance
of food safety were better use of resources and timely response to problems.
“The benefits of the HACCP Certification to food,
water, beverage organisations are many and these include food safety assurance,
increased patronage, maintained and
improved market access, constant reinforcing of best practices by staff
during food handling, prevent enforcement actions stemming from default, ensure
continuous improvement and international recognition with trading interests,”
he said.
Earlier, Dr. Modele Osunkiyesi, the Permanent
Secretary, Ministry of Health, said the essence of the meeting was to sensitise
food, water and beverage-based establishment on the importance and having an
understanding of the HACCP initiative as well as foster and promote the
adoption of the HACCP system in their organisations.
She added that the meeting also aimed at
emphasising the relationship between good hygiene practices and the HACCP
systems as well as gaining management commitment to the promotion of food
safety and hygiene.
“A proper understanding will prevent sanctions,
reduce the form of delays in processing documents and ensure a transparent
HACCP Certification by the Ministry. This is not a training but rather to give
you the necessary orientation,” Osunkiyesi said.
While noting that the HACCP sensitisation meeting
would be organised for all zones in the state to reach about 1000 food, water
and beverage organisations in February 2018, the Permanent Secretary posited
that the implementation of HACCP was the most secure and cost effective method
for controlling hazards during food,
water and beverage production.
“An unsafe product which has harmed someone can
result in legal actions by consumers and/or unwanted publicity that adversely
affect a broad range of the Company’s products and reputation. Producing and
selling an unsafe product may also result in regulatory actions as well as the
closure of the business. To avoid such possibilities and to fulfil commitment
to public welfare, food manufacturers and handlers must devote significant
resources to ensuring the production of safe food products at all levels.
“A tool which the Ministry has adopted to aid in
the production of safe food/water/beverages is the Hazard Analysis Critical
Control Point (HACCP) System. The Occupational Health enforcement officers are
the Food regulators charged with ensuring food safety to protect the health and
wellbeing of the unsuspecting public in the State.”
“The implementation of HACCP is the most secure
and cost effective method for controlling hazards during food/ water/ beverage
production. The adoption and implementation of HACCP system require other
programmes which are the building blocks that are required for HACCP system
such as Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Good hygienic Practices (GHP) and
Standard Sanitation Operating Procedures (SSOP) and are collectively referred
to as Prerequisite Programmes (PRP),” Osunkiyesi added.
