The Upper East Regional Office of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has introduced Street Vending License in the Region as a scale up to the national launch in November last year.
The initiative is intended to regulate and license street food vendors to guide them and progressively improve on their hygiene and safety to ensure food preparation under strict hygienic conditions for public safety.
Prior to a brief ceremony to introduce the license officials of the Authority went on a float on some major streets within the Bolgatanga Township.
The ceremony was held on the theme: “No Street vending license permit, no business.”
Clad in branded T-shirts and holding placards with inscriptions such as “Check for food hygiene permit before buying food,” “No FDA, No Street Food Vending Permit, No Business,” among others, the officials drew attention of members of the public on the need for food vendors to acquire license for their businesses.
In his address at the launch, in Bolgatanga, the regional capital, Mr Sebastian Mawuli Hotor, the Regional Head of the FDA, noted that street food was one that even the most cautious food safety individual still fell prey at one point or the other.
Owing to the irresistible desire by some members of the public for street foods, Mr Hotor said the FDA found it prudent to officially regulate and license street food vendors.
That, he said, would enable the Authority to keep a closer eye on how vendors produced food, and guide them to progressively improve on their hygiene for public health and safety.
Mr Hotor was hopeful that the initiative would help reduce food borne diseases in the Region, and called on all stakeholders, including members of the public to collaborate with the FDA for effective and successful programme for a healthier and safer country.
The vendors are expected to undergo medical examination to certify that they are healthy enough to handle food that is to be consumed by others before they are issued with license.
The Authority appreciated the efforts and support of the Regional Coordinating Council, the Ghana Health Service, the Environmental Health and Sanitation Unit, the Traditional Caterers Association, the media among others over the years.
Mr Adams Mohammed, an Officer from the Regional Environmental Health and Sanitation Unit, commended the FDA for the initiative, and pledged the Unit’s support to the Authority to fight for safe food consumption.
“FDA and Environmental Health and Sanitation Unit are like siblings when it comes to food handling,” he said.
Madam Talata Awuni, a Food Vendor in the Bolgatanga Municipality, on behalf of her colleagues, expressed gratitude to the FDA for the initiative to license them, and urged vendors who operated without the required licence to acquire same.
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