‘Ghana fruits, vegetables safe for consumption’
Fruits and vegetables in Ghana are safe for consumption despite a temporary ban on their export to the European Union (EU) Market, the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) has said.
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According to the Director in charge of the Kumasi Regional Office, Mr Samuel Frimpong, a research conducted by GSA on the fruits and vegetables in the country revealed that they contained the required residue for food safety and public health.
Speaking at a public lecture on the topic, “The effect of Pesticide Residues on Food Safety and Public Health” in Accra yesterday, he said “Our fruits and vegetables are safe and healthy for eating. There is no need for Ghanaians to panic when consuming them,” he said.
Background
Last September, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) placed a temporary ban on the export of some vegetables to the European Union market.
The ban will remain in place until all issues on interceptions by the Food and Vegetable Office (PVO) of the European Commission (EC) are addressed.
The affected vegetables include; Capsicum, Solanum species- Aubergines, Momordica, Luffa and Lagenaria (gourd family).
GSA challenges
Mr Frimpong also said although some fruits and vegetables in the country did not meet the international standard, the GSA should not be blamed since samples of most of these fruits were not submitted for proper endorsement.
“All the fruits and vegetables GSA have checked contained the required standard. The problem is that some of the farmers bring the ones which are good for endorsement and add them to those which did not meet the standard for exportation,” he said.
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Mr Frimpong indicated that the GSA was determined to put in place measures that would address the challenges confronting its operations, adding that “so far the institution had done a lot of research on some of the fruits and vegetables”.