Dr. Nyantakyi’s “Rude” Wake-Up Call
Every morning across Ghana, thousands of people begin their day with a cup of koko, rice water, oblayo, often poured steaming hot into thin plastic bags by roadside vendors. It is a familiar scene – one so normal that we barely pause to consider the risks. But a recent warning from the Ashanti Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr. Jackson Adiyiah Nyantakyi, demands our attention. According to him, drinking hot porridge from a plastic bag can be as dangerous as smoking tens of cigarettes in a day. That’s not just a metaphor – it is a sobering reflection of the silent chemical assault we may be unleashing on our bodies each morning.
For some, this claim may sound exaggerated while others are quick to dismiss the concern in the name of convenience, culture, or economic survival. But the science behind this warning is real, and the danger is not new. Heating plastic, especially the flimsy, low-grade types commonly used by food vendors – causes it to release harmful chemicals like bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates, which are linked to hormone disruption, cancers, and reproductive health complications.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 13 million deaths globally each year are due to preventable environmental exposures, including harmful chemicals in food contact materials. As public health advocate Dr. Nyantakyi aptly puts it: “What enters your body should heal, not harm. We cannot keep serving breakfast with a side of poison.”
Should Affordability Lead Us to Death and Diseases?
One of the most commonly heard objections to banning the use of plastic bags for hot food is cost. Plastic is cheap, accessible, and efficient particularly for low-income vendors and buyers who rely on convenience to survive the economic grin of daily life. At first glance, a policy restricting plastic food packaging seems like an unfair burden on the poor but dig deeper, and this argument begins to unravel.
What we save in cedis today, we pay for dearly tomorrow in hospital fees, medication, and lives cut short by preventable diseases. In orphans left uncared for, in heavier burdens on society and the economy. That is why affordability must be weighed against consequence. Just as Ghana moved decisively to regulate tobacco and alcohol advertising due to their long-term health effects, so must we now address the slow poison leaching into our food from hot plastic. We would never allow a cancer-causing chemical into our koko pot – so why do we tolerate it in the container?
Moreover, protecting livelihoods and protecting lives do not have to be opposing goals. The government can support vendors through a subsidy programme for safer packaging alternatives, encourage cooperatives to buy in bulk, and invest in community-based packaging innovation using biodegradable materials like plantain or banana leaves, ceramic cups, and paper wraps; many of which are rooted in Ghana’s own traditions.
In the end, true affordability must factor in human health. Plastic may be cheap, but cancer is not.
Alternatives and Innovations Beckon
Another popular objection is that there are no viable or affordable alternatives to plastic bags for packaging hot foods. It’s a fair concern – plastic has dominated Ghana’s informal food economy for decades due to its low cost and convenience. But the claim that we have no alternative is simply untrue. The problem is not absence, but under-investment and under-promotion.
Long before plastic became commonplace, Ghanaians wrapped kenkey in corn husks, used calabashes for soups, and stored meals in earthenware bowls. These were hygienic, biodegradable, and free of chemical leaching. In fact, many of these options remain in use across rural and peri-urban communities today. In places like India, banana leaves are widely used for food packaging, and in Kenya, startups are now producing heat-resistant biodegradable wraps from cassava and sugarcane waste.
Innovation is not lacking – it is policy support that’s missing. With the right investment and incentives, Ghana can become a continental leader in sustainable packaging. Imagine youth-led businesses producing branded paper koko containers, or cooperatives crafting food-safe palm wraps for mass use. These solutions aren’t fantasies; they are opportunities waiting to be unlocked.
The government has a critical role to play here; funding local research into biodegradable packaging, reducing import tariffs on safe materials, and supporting micro-enterprises that specialise in eco-friendly containers. Educational institutions can also introduce packaging innovation challenges to inspire student-led solutions.
To say that plastic is the only option is to deny our past and sabotage our future. Alternatives exist. What we need is the will to embrace and scale them up.
Transition Plans Protect Better Than Delay
Critics of regulation often argue that banning plastic food packaging will harm the informal economy, particularly small-scale food vendors – many of whom are women and young people working to support their families. It’s a valid concern but we must distinguish between genuine protection and harmful procrastination.
History shows us that public health regulations often face initial resistance, especially when they challenge everyday behaviour. When seat belts were first made mandatory, there was pushback. When smoking in public places was banned, businesses feared losses but over time, these measures saved lives and became accepted norms. The same can happen with food safety regulations if change is managed with empathy and support.
Government action must be pro-poor, not anti-poor. Rather than delay reforms in the name of protecting small vendors, we must accompany them through the transition. For example, government can provide startup kits of safe, reusable packaging to vendors in high-risk areas like schools, lorry stations, and markets; offer tax incentives or microcredit for cooperatives and local producers who develop affordable eco-packaging; organise training sessions on hygienic, chemical-free food handling in collaboration with metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies and food vendors’ associations.
By phasing out harmful plastic gradually – say, over 12 to 18 months – vendors can adapt without losing income, and consumers can be reconditioned to accept new norms.
Protecting livelihoods does not mean maintaining harmful practices. It means equipping our vendors with tools for safer service. When we delay life-saving policies in the name of empathy, we end up enabling danger. True compassion walks with people toward health, not away from it.
We Bridge Public Awareness Gaps
A common defence against regulating hot food packaging is that most Ghanaians simply don’t know the risks. While that’s true, it should not be used as an excuse for inaction. On the contrary, it is a call to intensify education, not to abandon regulation.
When the dangers of unclean water became known, Ghana didn’t wait for everyone to understand cholera before promoting safe water storage and chlorination. When COVID-19 struck, the government did not wait for universal comprehension before mandating masks and handwashing. In all these cases, policy was introduced alongside public education. That is the model we must follow now.
Yes, many Ghanaians may not realise that putting steaming koko, beans, or kenkey in plastic bags exposes them to dangerous petrochemical compounds. But that only underscores why government, civil society, and traditional authorities must urgently launch nationwide awareness campaigns. Public understanding doesn’t need to be perfect before we protect public health. Indeed, policy often leads awareness – just as laws against drunk driving made many people understand alcohol’s danger behind the wheel.
Let’s not wait until cancers rise and fertility declines before we act. Education must go hand in hand with regulation. Together, they change not just behaviour, but culture as well.
The writer is a lecturer at the Business School of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, GIMPA.