Christiana Cudjoe Dapuliga, Balali Gadafi Iddrisu, Titus Okareh Oladapo, Osafo Richard, Taufiq Mohammed
Department of Theoretical and Applied Biology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Environ Health Insights. 2022 Dec 14;16:11786302221142484. doi: 10.1177/11786302221142484. eCollection 2022.
Food safety is a global concern in today's world, and harnessing food safety in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially Nigeria and Ghana are momentous. This review presents an insight into the situation of food safety in Nigeria and Ghana. Using a desktop review technique, research papers were evaluated to find major sources of food safety concerns. It was revealed that many studies reported on food contamination at the consumption level whereas few reported on the healthiness of the production chain. Improper handling of food at the local markets, vending sites hygiene practices of food vendors, and bad transportation and packing systems have all been implicated. Inadequate education is a major cause of food contamination, especially at the consumption level. Again, etiologic agents responsible for food-borne illness in Ghana and Nigeria range from viruses, fungi, parasites, and protozoans to bacteria. They include rotavirus, hepatitis A virus, Lassa fever (LHF), human noroviruses (HNoV), and . Their toxins are responsible for numerous food contaminants. Some foods are contaminated with chemicals including pesticide residues, lead, mercury, etc. Laws of food safety are not well enforced leading to complications in the food production chain. Rigorous monitoring and evaluation coupled with surveillance and education to harness the situation and detect issues that compromise the right process is a necessity. Finally, intentional enforcement of regulations by regulatory agencies will go a long way to curb food contamination and food-borne illnesses within the region.
食品安全是当今世界的一个全球性问题，在撒哈拉以南非洲地区，尤其是尼日利亚和加纳，保障食品安全意义重大。本综述深入探讨了尼日利亚和加纳的食品安全状况。采用桌面综述技术，对研究论文进行评估，以找出食品安全问题的主要来源。结果显示，许多研究报告了消费层面的食品污染情况，而关于生产链健康状况的报告较少。当地市场食品处理不当、食品摊贩的售卖场所卫生习惯以及糟糕的运输和包装系统都被认为是相关因素。教育不足是食品污染的主要原因，尤其是在消费层面。此外，在加纳和尼日利亚，导致食源性疾病的病原体包括病毒、真菌、寄生虫、原生动物和细菌。它们包括轮状病毒、甲型肝炎病毒、拉沙热病毒、人类诺如病毒等。它们的毒素是众多食品污染物的元凶。一些食品被化学物质污染，包括农药残留、铅、汞等。食品安全法律执行不力，导致食品生产链出现问题。进行严格的监测和评估，同时加强监督和教育，以控制局面并发现影响正确流程的问题是必要的。最后，监管机构有意加强监管将大大有助于遏制该地区的食品污染和食源性疾病。
