My Sarah Ofori
The FDA has suspended the operations of Yellow Sisi, a popular waakye joint at Oyibi, in the Adenta Municipality until measures have been put in place to ensure that their activities are brought into compliance to prevent future occurrences.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Chief Executive, Ms. Delese Darko.
The suspension of Yellow Sisi follows an investigation conducted by the Food and Drugs Authority, into a suspected food-borne disease outbreak which has claimed the life of one person.
According to the Food and Drugs Authority, it received notification through its Food Safety Alert System on Sunday, 22nd January 2023, on a suspected foodborne disease outbreak which was reported to have occurred at Oyibi, within the Adenta Municipality, in the Greater Accra Region.
In line with the Food Safety Emergency Response Plan, a joint investigation with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) started immediately. Investigations revealed that a total of fifty-three (53) people experienced symptoms of a foodborne disease after consuming waakye or plain rice and tomato stew from a food vendor called Yellow Sisi located at Bush Canteen, a suburb of Oyibi.
So far one person has been reported dead, but the exact cause of death is yet to be confirmed. Environmental assessment of the food preparation site located at Malejor and the three vending sites at Bush Canteen, Prison Joint and Sharp Curve Joint revealed poor food handling practices which could have resulted in the contamination of the food, leading to the foodborne disease outbreak.
The FDA has since suspended its operations until further notice.
The FDA launched its Street Food Vending Scheme in November 2021, in conjunction with the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies. The Scheme, which was developed under the FAO Healthy Street Food Incentive Project, aims at issuing compliant vendors with a Street Food Vending Permit.
Consumers are therefore to insist on seeing these permits in their favorite eateries before patronizing their services.