CONSUMER CONCERNS …PAT DIAL…Consumers and sellers need to be aware of risks

Jul 03, 2016 News

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The Guyana Consumers Association (GCA) has had a long-standing concern about the way certain vegetables which are sold in the markets are grown and vended and also the way other foods which quickly host bacteria are exposed for sale.
Consumers who purchase such vegetables and foods are either unsuspecting or unaware of the risks of consuming them. Indeed, what tends to avoid them contracting serious illnesses is that such foods and vegetables are usually cooked and much of the bacteria are thus eliminated. But it should be remembered that not all bacteria are eliminated in cooking.
Many vegetables are not peeled before usage. Baigan (boulanger), ochroes, boras, nenwas, and various types of bhajis (leafy vegetables), eschallots, sweet peppers and chilis, and even sometimes cucumbers are not peeled. In growing these vegetables, farmers very often use water from the nearby drains to wet the roots and throw on the plants themselves. Most of the nearby drains take off waste water including septic tank effluent. The vegetables absorb this polluted water.
Subsequent rainfall never wholly washes off the bacteria brought by the polluted water and some vegetables like packchoy bhaji actually retain such water.
When such vegetables are exposed for sale in the markets or roadside stalls, the sellers spray them with water to keep them fresh. Since there are invariably no water-connections nearby, many sellers obtain their water from the drains.
In the past, the only fertilizer used by small vegetable farmers was animal manure, especially cow manure. Today, farmers tend to use chemical fertilizers which are easier to obtain, though more costly. Vegetables grown with chemical fertilizers are less healthy than those organically grown and tend to rot very quickly.
Consumers have to be very careful where they purchase their vegetables and have to endeavour to find a greengrocer where there is less such risk.
There are other food items sold in the markets or by wayside sellers which present purchasers with as much risk as buying vegetables. For example, cheap powdered milk in 50-pound bags imported mostly from Ireland and styling itself “full cream” is repackaged in transparent plastic bags and widely distributed. There are very strict regulations relating to milk packaging, one of the main ones being that such repackaging should only be done in sterile rooms, that is rooms which are bacteria-free.
This milk is repackaged in conditions which are far from ideal. It should also be mentioned that the protein in such milk is invariably vegetable protein. Consumers buying such milk are under the false impression that the milk they are buying is equivalent or identical to the dearer brand-name full cream milks such as Nido or Fernleaf.
Unrefrigerated “fresh” meat – chicken and red meat- is sold by several shops in the markets and by wayside sellers. Unrefrigerated meats beak down very quickly and after a day become unwholesome. The sausages which are packaged abroad keep much better but they would certainly be fresher if refrigerated.
Many market stalls and wayside vendors sell poisons such as insecticides and rat poisons in close proximity to foodstuffs. Both consumers and sellers are unaware or oblivious of the risks to health of having poisons and food so close together.
The Food and Drugs Department whose remit it is to ensure that safe and wholesome food is sold in Guyana, is aware of the risks faced by consumers but their very limited resources prevent them from fully carrying out their mandate. For instance, they do not have enough inspectors to continuously monitor the markets. From time to time they have issued releases or advisories protecting consumers and have taken action on businesses that distribute goods which are below standard.
Recently, for example, they ordered the withdrawal of a baby food distributed by one of the biggest local companies. The Company’s first reaction was to challenge the Department in the courts. Shortly afterwards, however, they accepted culpability and withdrew the product.
At this point in time, successfully addressing the risks and dangers faced by consumers does not lie with the Law-enforcing Authorities but in educating both consumers and sellers and also in consumers protecting themselves.
The Food and Drug Department and the Bureau of Standards could use their comparatively easy access to the print and electronic media in this Educational effort. The GCA will contact the Educational Authorities to alert both in-service and trainee teachers of the problem.
Consumers must protect themselves by washing their vegetables very thoroughly and not eating them uncooked. They should avoid buying food which host bacteria easily, though such may be cheaper.

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