As part of the Assembly’s efforts to ensure smooth implementation of the School Feeding Programme in the Municipality, the Assembly in collaboration with Municipal Nutrition Unit of Ghana Health Service organized a day workshop on nutrition and good food hygienic practices for a healthy leaving in basic schools in the Municipality for all School Feeding Caterers on Thursday, 15th April,2021 at the Municipal Assembly Hall.
Mr. Frederick Opoku, the Municipal Nutrition Officer gave a presentation on nutrition and its benefits. According to him, nutrition is the study of nutrients in food, how the body uses them, and the relationship between diet, health and diseases. He also said there are more than different kinds of nutrients in food and they can generally be classified into the following seven (7) major groups;
Carbohydrates
Proteins
Fats
Vitamins
Minerals
Dietary fibre and
Water
He touched on the importance of nutrition. According Mr. Opoku, balanced diet is very central part of nutrition. He stated that Nutrition is a critical part of health and development. Some of the importance of nutrition he mentioned were;
Improves infant, child and maternal health
Stronger immune systems
Safer pregnancy and childbirth
Lower risk of non-communicable diseases
Longevity and
Healthy children learn
Improve your ability to fight illness
Improve your ability to recover from illness or injury.
According to the Nutrition Officer, a healthy diet includes;
1. Eating a lot of vegetables and fruits
2. Choosing whole grain foods
3. Eating protein foods
4. Limiting highly and ultra-processed foods
5. Making water your drink of choice. Water supports good health and promotes hydration.
He further highlighted some essential principles of food hygiene to achieve the goal of ensuring that food is safe and suitable for human consumption. The essential principles of food hygiene were;
Food safety Assurance which means food will not cause harm to the consumer when it is prepared and /or eaten.
Food suitability Assurance which means food is acceptable for human consumption
The training according to the Municipal Nutrition Officer was aimed at inculcating the habit of good food handling practices to promote food safety and compliance among school feeding caterers
Mr. Samuel Darkwa, the Municipal Environmental Officer gave a presentation on how to use good cleaning and storage techniques to reduce the chance of food borne diseases. According to him, the highest levels of contamination are found in areas that are damp, such as kitchen sponges, dishcloths, sink drains, and faucet handles.
The training workshop was productive and successful as caterers were trained to acquire the requisite knowledge to promote good food hygiene practices in their various schools.