Professor Olasunmbo Ajayi from the College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State, has urged the government at all levels to ensure only hygienic food and beverages are available and accessible on the streets in the interest of public health in Nigeria.
She made this remark recently at the presentation of her inaugural lecture, the 19th edition of its kind at the university.
Olasunmbo Ajayi, a Professor of Food Science and Technology, spoke on the topic of her lecture, entitled Food Safety Should Be a Public Health Concern: The Yearning of a Food Microbiologist.
According to her, food and beverages are prone to all kinds of microorganisms, ranging from spoilage viruses, pathogens, and toxins to parasites.
She noted that the vulnerability of raw foods and liquids to foodborne pathogens calls for proactive measures to improve hygienic production, processing, preparation, and handling before final consumption.
In her lecture, she grouped foodborne illnesses into infections, intoxications, and toxico-infections, adding that the need to control these foodborne infections should not be undermined by food vendors and consumers, even at the domestic level.
According to her, it is the joint responsibility of everyone to fight outbreaks of food- and waterborne diseases in the country, adding that controlling high-risk consumption behaviour and purchasing habits among the populace is a necessity.
She said, “The adage that we are what we eat still holds in that consuming fruits and vegetables are beneficial, but not the fruits and vegetables riddled with contaminants.
“Findings show that those ready-to-eat foods such as roasted corn and plantain, boiled eggs, garri, drinkable yoghurt, and so on are either microbiologically unsafe or riddled with heavy metals. Contamination of eggs and egg products affects its quality, and consumption of contaminated eggs may induce foodborne infections.
“For instance, eggs are customarily boiled and sold in the motor parks to commuters in Nigeria, and most of those eggs sold to the public are exposed to the environment and without clear indication of best buy date, making consumption of raw and ready-to-eat eggs of public health,” she said.
According to her, the government’s failure to monitor the quality of food and beverage products in the marketplace amounts to the inefficient performance of public health officers in their responsibility for food safety control in the country.
She noted that the issue of Nigeria and foodborne pathogens is very critical because the Nigerian government does not communicate the hazards in food to the general public.
Professor Ajayi, in her recommendation, appealed to parents to acquire basic knowledge of safe food preparation. She also urged caregivers to wash their hands before giving food to children, adding that policy options should include food safety education for daycare and nursing home workers as well as food vendors.
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She further noted that there should be a food control system to prevent the transmission of foodborne pathogens, stressing that food safety policies should be established and properly enforced. According to her, this action will go a long way in reducing the high mortality rate resulting from foodborne pathogens, especially among children.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Bowen University, Professor Tunde Lawal, who represented the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Professor Jonathan Babalola, at the event, in his remark, asserted that food consumers and vendors should be conscious of microorganisms present in food, which he said could be avoided through hygienic preparation and handling processes.
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