A Senior Research Assistant at the School of Pharmacy of the University of Ghana-Legon, Effah Baffo Gyamfi, has argued that it is wrong for sachet water to be sold to the public after three days of production.
He said three days after the production of sachet water, inside becomes ‘slippery’ which becomes unhygienic for human consumption but the state institutions such as the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), who are mandated to stop this have not been able halt it.
Mr. Baffo Gyamfi made the revelations in a yet to be telecasted interview on “The Ghanaian Kitchen” hosted by the ace Ghanaian Gospel Musician and Made in Ghana Ambassador, Emilia Arthur.
“The Ghanaian Kitchen” is a weekly programme on Home Base TV between the hours of 3pm and 4pm every Saturday. This edition would be shown on Saturday, September 10, 2022.
His comment comes after the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Kwaku Afriyie’s call on Ghanaians to stop purchasing food wrapped in plastic in order to avoid the risk it poses to one’s health.
The Minister also wants laws to be put in place banning the use of plastics for selling food across the country.
“The binding substance sometimes leaches into our body and destroys the internal functions. As a doctor, I know that. If you are a female, the plastic chemical composite shape is the same structure as part of your hormones and it can disrupt your menstrual cycle and cause problems. If you are a male, it can also enter the system and interfere with Spermatogenesis. Because it is chronic in nature, it happens small, small, so you might not appreciate it. Pass laws to prevent Kenkey users from using plastic to wrap Kenkey before boiling. Stop buying if hot food is in plastic. All the women wrapping plastic over corn dough before cooking; put a stop to it”, the Minister said.
Mr. Baffo Gyamfi added that “drinking sachet water in rubbers after three days is contaminated. If you burst it after three days, inside is dirty and slippery and it is not good for consumption”, he explained.
The Researcher explained that “we eat hot food in rubbers and that is why a lot of illnesses are abound”.
“It is a dangerous practice. Look at alcoholic drinks. We drink them in glass and not in plastics…it means we don’t put or drink beer in plastics. We drink beer in glass. We don’t use bottled water containers to buy palm oil or sobolo. It’s a serious and dangerous. If you cover or wrap hot food with plastic, it’s dangerous”.
Mr. Baffo Gyamfi noted that those who wrap food items such as kenkey, banku, rice balls, kokontey, fufu, among others with polythene are doing themselves more harm than good.
“We don’t cover wrap turkey berry with rubber while cooking. We don’t cover cooked food with rubber. It is toxic and it brings diseases. Our mothers used leaves to wrap these foods and they lived longer but the moment you use polythene, your human life span is shortened”.
‘Koko’ in polythene
The Researcher said it is very dangerous to eat porridge in polythene as it is seen in the mornings, especially, in the cities.
“Hausa Koko I polythene is bad. If we eat Koko in rubber ones in a while, it is okay but in Ghana, we eat Koko in rubber, we eat waakye, rice and others in rubber morning to evening”.
“We now have gotten Banku rubber and that is why we have Banku coffin”, he explained.
Impact of easting in polythene
Mr. Baffo Gyamfi revealed that both men and women are suffering from various forms of illnesses by consuming food wrapped in polythene but nothing is being done by the regulatory authorities.
“I have recorded a six-year-old girl menstruating and they are due to the chemical because early menstruation is early detection of cancer. The chemicals are contribution factor. If ladies eat in rubbers, they are likely to undergo surgery during child birth. We are in a hurry and that is why it is killing us”.
He said men have low sperm counts as a result of eating from plastics and food wrapped with polythene.
“Men are suffering from low sperm counts because of eating food wrapped in plastics and I am happy the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Kwaku Afriyie has also said the same”, he explained.
He said the regulatory bodies in Ghana such as the FDA and GSA are refusing to act as expected of them in stopping manufacturers from producing food items into plastics.
“FDA and GSA must sit up. They have to be up and doing because food in rubbers are bringing too much illness. How can I teach FDA and standard authority their job?”
He said “alcohol is dangerous in plastics for human consumption but we have several of them with FDA stamps but if I raise this, the FDA is fighting with me over the issue”.
